Doctor Who The Cybermen Apocalypse
by Jetplague
Summary: The Tenth Doctor Adventures continue! The Doctor and Andrea are sent into Earth's distant future as the Cybermen begin their major assault on the planet. All will be revealed in this latest adventure!
1. Default Chapter

Doctor Who: The Cybermen Apocalypse  
  
( The Adventures of the Tenth Doctor )  
  
By Jeff Walker  
  
In the depths of space, a silent look of the stars soon pans in closer as two ships come racing across, both are wide and bulky looking, completely laden with gun large gun turrets and futuristic weapons. The grey and white ships look battle scared and are full of quickly made patch works over the worst areas of damage. We pull in close to the first ship and soon see the interior of the main bridge. Soldiers are busy all about the large, heavily computerized room. Behind a man sitting in a torn and rather tattered black command chair, are crescent shape rows of computer terminal tables, various male and female officers man each one. In front of him, a large console with two pilots sits a few feet away, and beyond them is a massive screen showing them the space outside the ship. The grey haired captain carefully stares at the screen as they all work diligently around him. All the officers are wearing drab monotone pale blue fatigues, the large crest of an Earth with a "EC "graphic on it shows on all of their uniforms. The room is full of flashing small lights from the various computers, and a noise of a low hum as the ship's engines vibrate off the metallic hull. Each one of them looks preoccupied and rather frightened, like any soldier going into battle they put on a brave face, but minor weaknesses in their eyes give away their true fears. The captain however, is looking more confident and very entranced by the main viewer. He rises out of his worn-out chair and walks towards the large screen in front of him as he strokes his chin in thought.  
  
"Steady as she goes Mr. Raynard. ", the Captain says in a commanding tone.  
  
The young officer to his left operating the main console nods, "Aye Sir. "  
  
Raynard is a young chap who looks a tad too young to be in service, a slight sweaty brow indicates that he's only a rookie trying to do his best. Beside him sits a black female officer, looking more in her late thirties and operating her station with the greatest of ease. Perhaps more seasoned then her fellow officer beside her, but certainly just as nervous as the rest of the crew.  
  
"They're out here.... somewhere they're out here...", the Captain says in a low breath.  
  
The black female pilot hears him, "They managed to get by the first two flanks in the outer rim.... it will be a few hours before they're in our space, sir. "  
  
The grey haired leader snickers, "Hours.... they'll go by fast, you might as well be saying minutes.... their ships have a better rate of speed then ours. Keep the sensors on at full power; I want to know about anything that comes with in our path. "  
  
The Black woman acknowledges him, "Aye Sir. A grain of dust won't get by us.... count on it! "  
  
The ships fly deeper into space side by side, both looking ready for whatever awaits them. The roar of passing ships engines drift off as they soon go out of sight.  
  
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In a off white room with built in large round grayish perforations, the Doctor is seen laying on the cold off white floor tinkering underneath his console table. The table full of flashing lights, switches, keyboards and tactile controls, continues to busily work away while he works down below under it. His shoes, miss-matched gaudy looking bowling pair, only match his pair of argyle socks that clash with his pair of neat pin striped black and white slacks. His coat is that of a burgundy smoker's jacket unbuttoned, with his question marked laden grey-brown sweater vest. All of which is being kept hidden under the table as he fumbles away, like a man fiddling with his car, he is heard humming a tune, one that doesn't sound too familiar to Andrea standing over him. She is wearing a pair of brown leather boots, a very comfortable pair that go very well with her blue crushed velvet pants. A nice red belt holds them up, with her light green tank top just barely showing her bellybutton as it clings to her snuggly. She has a half sized matching blue velvet jacket that makes it all come together. No matter what she wears, she always ends up looking like a fashion model; her shoulder length blonde hair seems to sit on her shoulders like a waterfall.  
  
"Doctor? ", she says nervously.  
  
"Hmmmm..." he says back as he breaks his humming melody.  
  
"Is that something you should be doing.... humming I mean.... suppose the device doesn't like that either? "  
  
The Doctor stops, and peers out from underneath the table, "Well...I've never known a machine to be a critic. But if it eases your mind.... I'll stop. "  
  
Andrea sighs of relief, "Thank you..."  
  
The Doctor smiles and starts to go back under, "Yes...maybe some Mozart would be more to it's liking..."  
  
Andrea rolls her eyes as the Doctor begins to hum a Mozart classical tune, as he continues to hum and work, she suddenly looks over to the antique wooden cabinet sitting on the far side of the room. She walks over to it slowly and soon sees a black glove sitting on top, the same black glove she's seen before, and the kind like the mysterious stranger wears. The dark figure has been following them and been using the Tardis to guide them to places he determines, even now, the Doctor is gently trying to remove a component called, a time coder, an old device used by the Timelords to control one of their crafts. It cannot be removed by ordinary means, security around the device is super sensitive and could be programmed to do any number of things, even destroy them if need be. Andrea stares at the black glove, her look of shock soon gives way to an outburst towards the Doctor.  
  
"D...D...Doctor!! ", she hollers at him.  
  
He springs up suddenly at tries to shout back, but in a rather low voice, " Shhh...don't scream Andrea!! You nearly made me lose my tempo...and then we would have been, Blammo! "  
  
Still he could see she was terrified by something, her pointing at the cabinet and glancing at him with wide eyes gave him reason to go over and have a look. Approaching the wooden antique he too soon saw the glove sitting there. He knows those gloves, having once been taken from behind by the hands wearing them; it sends a streak of horror in him. He reaches over and picks it up, gazing at it he looks for any markings, and then in his detective style of quirkiness, he sniffs them.  
  
"What are you doing? ", Andrea asks as she sees him perking his nose at the evil glove.  
  
"Checking for residue my dear.... sometimes a person's sweat odor is more memorable then their voices. I learned that on Draken two, following a Kinarin Olander...wonderful noses they have...managed to spot the murderer in a large crowd standing near by. "  
  
Andrea asks, "An Kinarin Olander?? What the hell is that? "  
  
The Doctor stops sniffing the glove and jerks his head towards her, "A five legged animal that has large nostrils from its head to its mouth. But if I had to compare it with a human animal.... a Dog "  
  
"A Dog...", she starts to smile.  
  
"Well...more like a large spider really, over five feet in length, extremely hairy with two large fangs on either side of its mouth.... if you can call it that. ", he says to her smiling back and then walking back to the console again.  
  
Andrea didn't like that description, spiders where on her top list of most hated creatures of all, especially if they were like the size he mentioned.  
  
"Five feet in length!!" She said in a grossed out tone.  
  
As she lay back against the cabinet, she suddenly could feel something, the wooden antique almost seemed like it was gently vibrating. Quickly moving away, she recoiled back to touch it with her hands again. It was humming, just like the noise inside the room they were in. The Doctor was busy looking at the glove, but she soon broke his concentration as she called him over again.  
  
"Doctor.... this cabinet, it's vibrating! "  
  
The Doctor squinted his eyes at her as if he didn't believe it, "What? Don't be silly girl...."  
  
Motioning to the object again she said it to him again, "It's vibrating! I'm not making this up...come here.... feel.... come on..."  
  
The Doctor sighed and walked over to it to amuse her, placing his hand on the cabinet he gave his estimations about it, "Hmm...that's odd...."  
  
She awaited his answer, "What's odd.... what..."  
  
He turned around and looked straight at her, "You. Your odd.... honestly it's not vibrating. It must be that imagination of yours, a result of trauma I should figure..."  
  
"Then why is it vibrating?!" she yelps back.  
  
The Doctor sighs again and tries to reason with her, "I don't know...perhaps the Tardis is causing a reverberation...or it's very wobbly.... or maybe...just maybe...you're still shaking from your discovery. Hmm? "  
  
"But you said it yourself Doctor...", she starts to point out to him, "...how did this person know where we were all the time. How did he or she program the Tardis...or put that device on.... maybe this is another Tardis sitting here. "  
  
His face crumpled with thought, staring at the object again, he could finally see what she meant. He found it odd that he didn't come to realize that, but as he walked over and felt the cabinet again, his eyes soon became nervous. He slowly backed off from the antique and leaned on his console. Andrea didn't know what to make of his reaction, but soon listened to what he had to say.  
  
"Yes...your right of course. Maybe I didn't want to believe it. I don't know why I didn't think of it before.... damn...is my mind going?! You know...I've come to realize something Andrea.... something I really haven't faced. I'm getting old. The older I get...the more I think I'm losing my mind. "  
  
"Don't say that.... you look.... well you look young to me."  
  
The Doctor laughs abit, and turns to face her, "Yes...outwardly I am. But deep down Andrea, I'm nearly a thousand years old. Time seems to be catching up to me, and the more I come closer to that time...the more I fear it. "  
  
"Why would you fear it? ", she says as she walks over and pats his head like a caring mother.  
  
"I've seen what I'll become....", the Doctor looks up at her again, "...in the end...I'll become evil. I never truly believed I would ever be that way...but I had an encounter that...some would say...opened my eyes to the possibility. Back during my sixth regeneration, I was put on trial for meddling in time. My accuser was a Timelord I'd never laid eyes on before, a dark dressed man who seemed to know everything about me and of my weaknesses. It was finally revealed that that man...the one who accused me of breaking every law of the Timelords.... was in fact.... me. "  
  
Andrea stood shocked, the Doctor saw it in her eyes and finished, "My twelfth and final regeneration, there he...I...was. I struggled with him as he went on and on about how things got worst, about how the Timelords rejected him and how he despised them in return. I could see the evil in him.... a blackened heart...the soul gone.... a man, a Timelord.... a renegade devil clawing for more life like a selfish child. But the realization for me is...I am destined to be that man. "  
  
As the Doctor sat there a pitiful man, Andrea shook her head and put her hand on his cheek, "I don't believe you could be capable of such a thing. You always strive for the good in people, even in the face of such dark moments you've encountered, because you deeply care and believe in those who doubt themselves. If there is a darkness within you, I don't think it will take over, this.... future self of yours.... could be a result of something entirely different. You've always shown me that the future is never as it seems, I don't think you should either.... possibilities are endless in where you turn next. "  
  
The Doctor just slightly giggled at her, wise words for someone so young. This poor woman has been through many horrors and yet she is the one showing more strength and courage then he. Earth humans never cease to amaze him, a species full of surprises and stupidity...but rare wisdom nonetheless. Suddenly the center column of the console stops motion, the sound of the Tardis no longer makes its usual noise. The Doctor whips around and checks his controls.  
  
"We've materialized. But...the question is...where have we stopped at? "  
  
As he flicks on a switch, the main large view on the wall behind Andrea opens up. Like looking into a large flat screen television, they see what the outside looks like. All that is seen is the vast, emptiness of outer space. The Doctor walks all around his console and tinkers with his flashing lights and many controls. Andrea walks up to the large screen and stares at the big nothing outside.  
  
"We're in space. ", She observes.  
  
"According to the Tardis, we're just on the cusp of your solar system. Interesting. For some reason that's the only bit of information the Tardis can give me. It must be that device strapped on...."  
  
The Doctor leans into the console and pats it like a loving child, "There, there old girl.... I'll take it off of you soon enough..."  
  
Andrea continues to stare at the monitor and soon sees two small objects heading towards them. Squinting at it, she can being to make out their forms as it seems that the objects keep growing larger.  
  
"Doctor...", she says to the Timelord who now is back under the console having a look at the Time Coder device again.  
  
"Yess.... very crafty work. Who ever is trying to do this must be a Timelord....", he says as if he's talking to no one else but himself.  
  
Andrea tries to talk to him again, her eyes do not move from the screen as the object continue to come closer and closer, "Uhm...Doctor..."  
  
The Doctor touches the device and gets a static electric shock, "OW! Damn...what a foolish thing for me to do! Steady ol' boy...bound to loose fingers that way...not to mention the old girl here. "  
  
Andrea's eyes now grow wide with panic, the objects now look like two massive spaceships, and they're not slowing down in the least, "DOCTOR!! "  
  
Banging his head on the console, the Timelord gets up and begins to scold the woman for shouting out, "GAH!! For pity's sakes dear woman are you trying to get us all killed!! "  
  
She looks back to him an points, "But Look..." the ships look as though they are going to ram right through them as they race even closer now, Andrea makes him realize that very notion. "They're heading straight for us! "  
  
The Doctor sees the ships and dashes over to the screen, his gaze is fixated at the mammoth sized vessels heading straight for them, and turns around to Andrea without even staring directly at her, as if he is calculating it all in his brain.  
  
"They're moving at an incredible speed! If they don't slow down they'll plow right into us! I.... I can't maneuver the Tardis fast enough...if those ships don't see us in time..."  
  
He turns to look at the monitor again, eyes full of panic as the ships fill up the entire viewing area of the screen, "...we'll all be destroyed!! "  
  
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On the ship flying at them at full speed, the officer monitoring the sensors picks up the Tardis dead ahead of them.  
  
"Sir I have an object in our path! "  
  
The Commander looks up at the screen and sees the small object quickly coming towards them. He stands out of his chair and shouts out to the helmsmen.  
  
"Activate the tractor beam!!"  
  
"Sir?!" the helmsman questions in a panic tone.  
  
The Captain rushes down behind the pilot "Do it! It's the only way to avoid a direct collision! DO IT NOW!!"  
  
Outside the vessel, a light beams out from the front area of the ship, it surrounds the Tardis floating in space a few feet ahead and directs it out of the way. Both crafts just narrowly escape destruction as the large space ship pushes through and now carries the Tardis in its beam as it now gets dragged along with them. Inside the Tardis, both Andrea and the Doctor are thrown about. The whipping motion of the tractor beam has caused them both to toss around inside like a couple of rag dolls. Andrea screams from all the commotion and reaches over for the Doctor's hand as he tries to grab hold of her as well. Back inside the Earth ship, the captain relaxes and gives a well-deserved sigh of relief. The rest of the crew also become less tense as the near fatal crash was averted, now they go about back to their business and continue in their tasks.  
  
"That was a close one Sir." the black female helmsman calmly states.  
  
The Captain snickers, "Well, they'll be a lot more closer then that once we reach our target. So stay sharp Lieutenant Adelia."  
  
She nods to him looking back, "Aye sir."  
  
The young co-pilot nervously points to the flashing button on his console, "Ah...ah...sir?! The tractor beam still has the object in tow, should we turn it off now and let it float away?"  
  
"No chance kid, I want to see what it was we just missed. It could be a mine or a probe sent to stop us..."  
  
The Captain returns to his main chair and taps on a button at the side, as he activates it the screen in front of them all shows the blue boxed object they're carrying along. The graying commander stares at it and just barely makes out the letters that are spelled out on the box.  
  
"Pol.... Police box. What the hell is that?"  
  
The young Raynard pilot giggles about it, "Maybe they're our reinforcements? Hahaha!"  
  
"As you were Ensign!!" The captain bellows to him.  
  
At the back of the room, a metal door opens up and a young woman walks through it. The woman is Caucasian with sandy light brown hair, it comes down just beyond shoulder length and wears a uniform similar to the rest of the crew. The only difference is her stripes on either shoulder is green in color, and on her breast pocket is a strange symbol of two snakes wrapped around each other with an atom diagram circling it. She walks over to the captain's area and stands behind one of the table consoles surrounding him. She looks over at the screen and sees the Tardis being dragged in their tractor beam.  
  
"Reporting in sir...Medical and Science is ready. Can I ask why we're dragging that thing or are you just fishing in space?" she asks him in a quirky tone.  
  
The captain turns his chair over towards her direction, "We nearly ran into it. Thought maybe it was a space mine or something, but looking at it...I dunno...should we risk bringing it aboard I wonder?"  
  
The young officer woman looks at the image again and sighs, "It's your call cappy, but I would insist that I be allowed to have only myself examining it. That way if it goes off, you can eject me and the cargo bay into deep space."  
  
The old man sits there and thinks, then quickly raises his head and nods, "Sounds like a plan to me. Hopefully it won't come to that, I'd hate to lose my only Sci-med officer."  
  
"I'd hate that too sir." she says smiling back to him.  
  
The woman walks over to the metal door again and walks out, the whooshing sound of the sliding door closes back in as she leaves. The captain turns to his two pilots and gives his instructions.  
  
"Ok...Raynard, guide that thing into the second cargo bay and keep your finger ready on the ejector. Lieutenant Adelia, maintain course and increase speed to sub-light factor 4. Lets all remember they're still out here...so lets find them before they reach our space."  
  
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Inside the Tardis, the Doctor and Andrea recoup from the violent shaking, both notice the craft has become stable again and rise to their feet. The Timelord rushes over to the controls and frantically searches the computer for information. A long sigh and collapsing on the console gives him the appearance of someone grateful at the results.  
  
"Thank god...we didn't end up as space debris!"  
  
Andrea holds her arm in pain, "Ow...oh Doctor...what just happened? I thought we were goners for sure!"  
  
The Doctor stands up and smiles to her, "Not today my dear girl, it seems the ship managed to push us aside as they charged through. A tractor beam as they say.... grabbing us and ..."  
  
Andrea interrupts him, "Yeah, yeah...I know what it does..."  
  
He recoils in shock that she understands what it does; he didn't even have the chance to explain. The quizitive look on his face made Andrea chuckle abit and gave him an explanation.  
  
"I have seen science fiction stories you know....'Tractor beam won't activate captain!' and all that junk. They always have it in there."  
  
The Timelord's eyes dim at her remark, "Whom do you think gave some of those writers those stories? Hmm? Did any one of them ever mention me...hooo no. Not even Mr. Gene R., I explained the whole method to him and look what he did with it...wagon to the stars...my word."  
  
Andrea's eyebrows lifted as he dropped that bit of news, the cocky Timelord went back to his controls and tinkered around with some of the switches. The Doctor continued to muddle on under his breathe about the various writers that he talked too.  
  
"H.G. Wells...last time I take him on a trip. And the nerve of Asimov stealing my rules for robots...I was really only joking about them. Humph! That's gratitude for you..."  
  
He let out a large sigh and looked over to Andrea still in awe he knew all those writers, he gave her a quick wink and flipped on one of the switches without even looking at it.  
  
"Ah well...lets see what story is shaping outside of us, hm?"  
  
On the white wall of the Tardis, a large panel opened up and soon a screen displayed the view from outside. The Tardis cameras slowly scanned around and showed nothing but a large cargo hold full of large metal boxes and various other canisters looking items. Then it stopped and panned below as it caught the image of the young female sci-med officer using her scanning equipment directed at the blue box they were inside of. The Doctor and Andrea gawked at the view screen and wondered where they were.  
  
"Well...guess we're not in space anymore it seems. Good!", the Doctor quipped.  
  
"Good?!" Andrea scoffed, "We're inside the space ship now! They'll try to pry us out of this thing.... once again!"  
  
The Doctor laughed, "Again?! Please...when was the last time anyone did that."  
  
"Uh...hello? Am I the only one that remembers the various times we've encountered danger or what? "  
  
Once again the Doctor laughed, "Oh my dear girl...danger lurks in every corner, it's those that face it that become un-wavered by it."  
  
Andrea snorts, "Yeah...you're a pillar of courage alright."  
  
The Doctor's eyebrows rise as she laughs at his comment and watches her pass by. He seems somewhat surprised by her insult and in his only reaction; he sticks out his tongue at her.  
  
"Brat!"  
  
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The young Sci-med woman scans outside the strange blue police box, she's keeping a good distance away from it as a precaution, but hovers around holding out her device. The hand held scanner she has is letting out a sonic pulse as she walks around; the small monitor attached to it shows various thermal readings and energy output levels. As she carefully walks around, she shifts her eyes from the scanner to the Tardis sitting there in front of her.  
  
"Man this thing is weird." she says aloud, "its generating an energy signature I've never seen before...and scanner can't penetrate its hull. Whatever it is...we didn't build it."  
  
A small device in her ear has a thin microphone stretching out to her cheek, through this earpiece she can hear the captain talking to her.  
  
"So it is a bomb then..." he says to her as the sound crackles from the static.  
  
She shakes her head, "No, not really.... its hard to tell. I need to do some more tests on it before I can say that."  
  
The captain sighs, "Look, we can't afford to make a detailed study of the thing. It could be a well-designed trick and blow all of us up the minute we touch it. I say we eject it back out and deal with it when this war is over."  
  
A long pause happens between her and the captain, so he talks to her again, "Doctor Kesley? Megan...did you hear what I said? "  
  
The woman sighs in a disappointed tone and rolls her eyes, "Yes Mike...I heard you."  
  
She turned off the scanner and began to step away from the blue box, that's when the door began to open up and she could hear the creak behind her. Quickly spinning around, she took out her side arm laser weapon and pointed it at the opening door. She gulped in anticipation as the door now fully open and heard someone coming out of the object. The captain on the bridge and the other crew men saw it all happening on the view screen as well, the cameras were watching the woman as she did her work and now saw that the strange box was opening before their eyes. The light brown haired woman stood there with her gun pointed at the door and finally saw to figures step out. The Doctor and Andrea casually walked out and suddenly stopped as they saw the sci-med officer pointing a weapon at them both.  
  
"Why do we always have to meet people like this?" Andrea says whispering over to the Doctor.  
  
The Timelord stood there with his hands up and grinned, "Funny...I was about to say the same thing."  
  
As the Doctor tried to take a small step forward, Megan pointed her gun up to him in a threatening manner again. He quickly stepped back and smiled once more.  
  
"Hello there, uhm.... I say...do you mind not pointing that thing at us? My young lady friend here has had her fill of weapons of late and I must say...I'm not too keen on them myself anymore."  
  
Megan stood there serious, "Who are you? Are you spies? Humanoid Androids sent to kill us? Answer me!"  
  
"Well I'm the Doctor...", he says to her in a cheery manner, "And this bright young woman is my traveling companion Andrea. We're not spies.... and uhm...what was the other part again?"  
  
The woman struggles to understand, "What? Uh...uh...Androids...are you androids sent to kill us? Cause if you are I must take you out...if your human give me your Earth Security clearance code! NOW!"  
  
Andrea flinches at the woman's nervous shout, "We're not androids! Trust us we're human...please don't shoot us!"  
  
The Doctor lowers his one hand down and tries to get to his left pocket, "Look, I might have something that will calm everyone down and give you a chance to let me explain things a bit better. Hmmm? Ever seen a jelly baby before?"  
  
Andrea snaps at the Timelord, "Oh come on Doctor...this is not the time to push your snacks at them!"  
  
On the bridge the crew watches everything unfold, the captain sees the Doctor reaching down and assumes the worst is going to happen.  
  
"Good god...he's reaching for a weapon!"  
  
The young pilot Raynard nervously panics, "It's them! They're here to kills us! Oh God!!"  
  
"Shut up Ensign!!" The captain screams at him.  
  
Over the ear radio Megan was wearing, she could hear the captain barking at her.  
  
"Megan shoot them! It's a trick! We'll all be dead in minutes!"  
  
She strains to hear the captain as he yells, "But...But sir..."  
  
"Shoot them woman!!! SHOOOOOT!!!"  
  
She aims her gun at the Doctor's head and gets ready to blast away at him; both he and Andrea open their eyes in fear and surprise.  
  
"Oh my. ", the Doctor says.  
  
Just as Megan prepares to fire the weapon, a sudden jolt hits the entire ship. The shaking causes her to loose balance and lean forward into the Doctor, as she collapses into him, the gun is pulled away from her hand by Andrea and aimed at the other woman's head for a change. Another sudden quake affects the ship and soon the sirens fill the air with warnings of hull breaches. The captain's voice overlaps the loud ringing noise and alerts the entire ship of what just happened.  
  
"This is the Captain speaking! All hands on deck! I repeat...all hands on deck! Enemy attack in progress!"  
  
The Doctor, still holding the woman in his arms to break her fall, looks directly at her face and raises his eyebrows at her.  
  
"I believe that means you my dear...don't let us keep you from your duties."  
  
Megan retreats from him all flustered, "I can't leave you here...you're spies for the enemy!"  
  
Andrea holds the gun out at her, "We're not spies! Why won't any of you believe us? We only just arrived here in this space and time!"  
  
The Doctor holds his hand out to silence Andrea; she's not supposed to tell people that sort of thing, a lecture that he's given her a few times during their time together. He shakes his head and looks back at the young, but very nervous, angel faced woman with a relaxed attitude.  
  
"I have a suggestion my dear...since we are under your charge, perhaps we should be escorted to the bridge with you? Yes?"  
  
Megan thinks about it for a fraction of a second and walks over to Andrea holding the weapon. Looking straight at her, she opens up her at her and gestures for the laser gun.  
  
"Give me the gun and I'll believe you then. I don't have time to argue this anymore, I've got to be on the bridge."  
  
Andrea slowly hands it over to the woman again, as soon as it is in her grasp she quickly snatches it away and places it back into the holster from which it came. Megan eyes them both and sighs.  
  
"Ok...lets go then. If your not spies...then you've got one hell of an explanation to do. Follow me."  
  
The woman turns from them and heads over to the metal door leading out into the ship's corridor. The Doctor adjusts his dark red velvet smoking jacket he always wears and grabs Andrea firmly around with his left arm. He gives a comforting wink to her and smiles.  
  
"So far so good eh?"  
  
Andrea rolls her eyes and shakes her head in disbelief. Hard to believe the Doctor could look so calm after what almost just happened, but then again, she's sure he's done this sort of thing far too many times to even care. Not so for Andrea, ever since she's met him it's been one hostile capture after another. She's still not quite over her ordeal with the last adventure, which very nearly killed her ( - See The Lost World). But as the grinning Timelord looked at her, she realized she had no choice but to always trust his judgment, and they proceeded to walk out the door with the female officer waiting for them.  
  
As they walk through the never ending corridors of the large ship, Andrea notices how non-clean and white it should be, science fiction ships she's seen or read about always seemed to be in the best of conditions even during battle. But this one wasn't at all; it looked more like a messy version of...well...a scrap yard. Walls looked re-fabricated and bent out of shape, chunks of steel laid on the floor and even wiring. The Doctor casually walked over the debris as if he had seen all this before, to him, this was nothing new. Being on every ship imaginable in the known universe has dulled him to any sort of shock to the state of any space cruiser. Megan brushes a few strands of her hair away as she walks in front of them and apologies for the obvious lack of care.  
  
"Sorry bout the mess, but most of our crew is reassigned to other areas of the ship. Repair crews are needed elsewhere and well...right now...cleanliness isn't that big of a priority at the moment."  
  
The Doctor listens to her with great interest as she dodges the scrap blocking her path. Andrea seems to focus on keeping herself clean and uncut from all of it, scanning where she's stepping and jumping over the parts that look particularly nasty. Every corner and new direction they take is the same, but most obvious to both of them is the fact that hardly any crewmen are seen walking down the areas they are, as if the ship doesn't seem to have as nearly a large capacity of crew to maintain it's operation. The Doctor gazes at the metal and notices the wear and tare of the structure. The weld spots are almost one on top of the other and bits of older panels are still attached to the new sections tacked on. The scraps weren't fresh that's for sure, he noticed the dust and rusting on them almost as if they'd been laying there forever. They all stepped into a small elevator and watched the doors slowly close behind them. Standing with very little room, Andrea tries to push herself back more by leaning against the metal. Something that Megan doesn't like too much.  
  
"Watch it! You'd better not do that!"  
  
Andrea gets snotty on her, "Why not? It's just a wall and there's no room to breathe."  
  
Megan leans over to her as the Doctor helplessly stands there listening, "Because...if a blast hits us the shockwave would reverb throughout the ship and cause massive vibrations on all metal. Just think about what it might do to your spine..."  
  
Andrea scoffs at her, "But this whole ship is made out of metal...are you telling me that none of you would be affected... only this elevator wall?"  
  
The Doctor slinks over to Andrea and gives her better advice, "Uhm...just do as she says and lets not make a fuss him? A shockwave would do great harm to everyone on this ship...something tells me there's a lot going on then just a simple cruise around the solar system."  
  
The Elevator opens up and they continue on down more corridors with half burnt signs pointing to the direction of the bridge. Now some of the marks and burns look fresh, or recently replaced. The Doctor is now confident this ship is built for only one purpose...to wage war. It's sheer size and obvious military overtones are all dead giveaways to anyone that have seen this structure of command. The tension is thick and crew is nervous about someone or something. Continuing his conversation with Megan, the Doctor tries to bring out further details about the situation they have gotten themselves into.  
  
"I take it you're in the midst of a major interplanetary war. How long have you been out here?" the Doctor asks inquisitively.  
  
Megan snickers, "Would you believe that this is our tenth time out here? Seems like every time we go out we keep coming back for major repairs, the captain is determined to end this war by any means necessary. Hell the whole Earth Coalition is out to end this war..."  
  
Andrea scratches her leg on one of the sharp edges and lets out a small yelp, she quickly recovers and tries to keep up with the conversation.  
  
"So...what is this? Earth is at war with another species? Colony of humans? Some un-known enemy that is bent on destroying you?"  
  
Megan gives a look back, "Where the hell have you been the last one hundred years?"  
  
The Timelord has been silent all this time and finally snaps back to reality as he tries to cover for his companion's lack of knowledge of this time.  
  
"Oh uh...we've been out of this region of space for some time. Now tell me something my dear, "he says to the woman in an attempt to switch the conversation," You say you've been fighting this war for over a hundred years? Then these ships must be almost antiques by now."  
  
Megan nods, "Antiques...yeah I guess they are aren't they. No time to build new ones and not enough engineers to at least overhaul the systems. This ship has been good to us though, she maybe old...but she's the finest ship of the fleet."  
  
Andrea smiles at the military woman's nostalgic outlook of the vessel; at least now she knows the woman has a soft spot somewhere in that rather stern figure of hers. They finally reach the bridge and enter through its main doors. The Doctor and Andrea gaze around the large room and see that it's just as run down as the rest of the ship. Still it manages to impress the both of them and give them a sense that it won't be breaking down any time soon. The Timelord walks over to the round computer center where the captain sits in the middle. The graying man sits stiff in his chair as he glares out with great tension towards the main viewer in front. The oddly dressed Timelord tries to extend his hand at the occupied captain as he stretches over the computer console to introduce himself.  
  
"Ah good! You must be the captain of this fine ship. Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is my wonderful companion Andre..."  
  
The harsh captain silences the Doctor, "Quiet you fool! They're coming around for another attack!"  
  
Insulted by the captain's words, the Timelord retracts his hand and grabs hold of his red smoking jacket as if to straighten it in defiance. But it was rather understandable to him, the graying man was responsible for lives and for the safety of this area of space, now that they are under attack, he realizes that introducing himself was a bit bad timing. Every crewmember on that bridge was silent and trying to do their duties quickly as possible. Every now and then a few members would glance over at the screen and catch a view of what the captain and the other officers were staring at on the monitor.  
  
Megan quickly stares at the screen and looks at it in fear, "Already? My god they're not wasting any time! They must have destroyed the bulk of our forces at the front line...we're being slaughtered! There's only a handful of us left to protect Earth...how many captain? How many enemy ships came through?"  
  
The aging captain rises to his feet as he continues to stare at the screen, "Three...I don't know how many the front encountered, but at least theirs only three of these bastards left to deal with. Still...against their fire power, I'm not even sure how long we can hold out."  
  
As the Doctor swings around the computer console he turns his head over to the main viewer that they all seem fixed on. On the dark screen, that fizzles and crackles from time to time, is an image of space beyond them. On it are three small white objects getting larger as they approach rapidly. Andrea soon joins by the Timelords side and asks her usual dumb question. One that even she knows is too much to ask at such a tense moment but feels compelled to do so just the same.  
  
"Who are they? Who are you fighting?"  
  
The black female pilot sneers at Andrea's foolish question, "Do you really need a hint? Or will it take a trillion more lives to make you realize who it is?"  
  
Megan sighs, "The last hundred years...we've been fighting them. They are relentless, efficient and most of all the hardest to kill. We thought the Daleks were bad enough...but these guys are hell bent on taking us all out for good."  
  
The Doctor and Andrea stare out again to the screen, and now the faint white objects have become fully viewable alien ships. These ones look undamaged, a grayish-white and bulky from all of it's metal armor. The design is very simple, yet precise, no flaws or even scorch marks. The engines look almost built into the ship's skin as it peaks at the back of it and a string of energy cannons line the top, side and bottom of the ship's hull. It is a monstrous sight to behold and sends a chill down everyone's spine just by looking at it.  
  
The Doctor just gasps in realization, "No...no it can't be. Not again..."  
  
Andrea holds on to the Doctor in a desperate attempt to get an answer out of him, "Who are they Doctor?! "  
  
His eyes stare blankly at the screen as he responds to Andrea clutching on to him, "I am sorry my girl...so damn sorry.... I should have never brought you along. It seems we've been led into the fire once more..."  
  
Suddenly a loud beep snaps on in the room, a booming monotone voice fills the whole place like a loud stereo.  
  
"Earthmen! This day is no longer yours...the fleet you sent to alpha zero nine two mark three is no more. Nothing will stop us from reaching your miserable planet; no human shall be safe from our revenge...you've wasted our time long enough and now the final battle draws near. Death is upon you all, may you die horribly and be erased from all time.... the Cybermen are finally...home!"  
  
The Doctor looks down at his scared companion, who still has the brutal violence of the Cybermen in her mind from the last encounter (-see The Lost World). Her widening eyes and jarring mouth gives the Timelord a complete loss for words as he has surely brought her back into an unforeseeable doom.  
  
The captain shouts out to the pilots, "Fire all weapons!!"  
  
The Earth ship points all of it's guns at the on coming Cybermen vessels and blast away at them as they approach rapidly. The targeting was poor and strikes them with almost no result, some shots managed to hit the alien ship's hull but showed no sign of damage or scaring on it. A futile effort on their part, the Earth vessel is too under powered to make a significant dent against their enemies and now are too late in stopping them from returning fire. The three massive Cybermen ships aim their cannons at the human vessel and fire all of them at once at the slightly smaller ship. The impact strikes the hull in storm of explosions; it causes everyone to jolt back and fall everywhere. The Earth ship bridge is sparking and causing bursts of flames to come shooting out of the computers around the room. The Doctor shields Andrea on the floor as the debris narrowly misses them both; the captain has been flung out of his command chair and lies on the ground trying to get his senses back. The crew screams in panic as many of them become seriously wounded and even die from the massive strike against them. The shrill of the warning sirens fill the now quieting room as the red lights accompany the sound as well, the explosions die down and the ship stops shaking violently. The captain quickly returns to his command chair and screams out to his crew in order to get them back to their stations.  
  
"Report!! All Stations! Helm? HELM! Lieutenant Adelia give me a report damnit!!"  
  
The black female officer rises up off of her console with a fresh gash in her forehead, she holds on to it with her left hand and types away on the complex button computer.  
  
"A...Aye...Aye Sir. Helm still on line..."  
  
The captain looks over to the fallen younger pilot cowering in fear under the console.  
  
"Get up Ensign Raynard! Assume your position!"  
  
The well-cut blond kid just wails away under the computer, "God! God save us!! We're all doomed...Bwaaahahahah...DOOOOMED!!"  
  
The captain leaps out of his chair and grabs the frightened boy from his hiding spot; he forces him to stand up and gives him a strong strike across the face. The slap was so loud the Doctor got up off of Andrea and took notice of it.  
  
"Leave the boy alone! He can't help being frightened!"  
  
The captain just grabs Raynard and looks at him deeply, "I will not have cowards! Do you hear me?! Earth can't afford to have such drama! Now get back to your post and do your job soldier!!"  
  
The boy wipes the tears and strokes the red cheek the captain gave him, a quick nod and he collects his wits. Sitting back down beside Adelia, he helps her punch up the computer and resumes steering the ship. The captain returns to his command chair and looks over at the Doctor with a most angry glare. The Timelord gives no reaction to the man, just stands there staring back at him with equal contempt. Andrea rises up from the floor and looks around the room. The carnage is everywhere, but notices the crew continues to work away...even while the men lay there dead or wounded. Megan is seen running around checking all the crew and even stepping over the numerous bodies.  
  
"Where are they Helm?! Talk to me!" the captain bellows out to them.  
  
Young Raynard talks with a jittery voice as he answers his commander, "They've past over us and are proceeding to continue on."  
  
"Sir, "the black female pilot shouts back, "We've taken heavy damage to many of our forward guns.... our aft side is nearly pulverized and engines seem to be badly damaged."  
  
Megan listens to her earpiece again as a message is relayed to her directly, closing her eyes she calmly walks over to the captain and tells him of the bad news.  
  
"First Engineer Brandon is dead sir. It seems there's only a handful of inexperienced children down in the engine room right now. They're reporting that they don't have enough experience to bring the main drive back online."  
  
The captain slaps his fist down hard, "Blast! Damn those bastards.... Helm re-route power to any system that is working and pursue at full speed with whatever you can muster. We'll fix it on the way...if we can."  
  
The two pilots nod, "Aye Sir."  
  
The graying commander sighs as he tries to rest his eyes for a second, "We should have never wasted our energy on picking up that stupid police box."  
  
The Doctor walks over and stands directly in front of him, "I beg your pardon?! That stupid police box happens to be quite valuable."  
  
The captain sits there looking up at the Timelord, "Energy is valuable! Not picking up hitchhikers during wartime. We're on the brink of extinction here and can't worry about every insignificant travelers we come across!!"  
  
The Doctor points his finger at the stubborn man and becomes cross, "Now see here you small minded human, just because you couldn't hold your own during the Cybermen/Dalek war should come as no surprise why you're on your way on becoming a burnt out cinder! You had plenty of time to prepare for this incident and blaming some 'insignificant' travelers like us for your terrible woes isn't going to help you win this war."  
  
The captain looks at him curiously, "What are you on about? What time did we have? Just look around here..."  
  
"Doctor", the Timelord says to him as he can see the man straining to remember his name.  
  
"Look around, Doctor. Time is something we never had. We've been at this for a long time now and never once have we ever had the time to prepare."  
  
The Doctor leans in at him, "Oh but I beg to differ. I know what happened here captain...I know why the humans are so behind in their ship technology. And more to the point...I'm here to help you. So stop giving me your brutish military attitude and welcome us aboard."  
  
Megan heard every word the Doctor was saying from across the room and stared at him with great confusion. So too did the captain sitting there eyeing the strangely dressed man lecturing him.  
  
"Who the hell are you?"  
  
The Doctor leans in closer to the man and lowers his voice to an almost whisper.  
  
"I told you...I'm the Doctor."  
  
â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢  
  
The Three Cybermen spacecrafts continue to venture deeper into the solar system, inside the lead ship, the Cybermen crew work away at the controls. The room is sliver and white, chromed almost as much as they themselves are. Oddly built, the room is round and has no real sort of command seating. Computers fill the entire room and each Cyberman stands attending to each one. In the center is another slivery robot, huge holographic images are wrapped all around him as he turns to each one floating round and touches them. They shift and move around the officer and almost appear see-through, probably as a means to talk to others as the creature works. No chairs to be found on this spacecraft, Cybermen do not need rest and don't need any sort of comfort at all; they maintain their duties at all time and work constantly. A large door opens at the back of the room, the sliver-plated wall like thing slides open and another Cyberman steps into the room. This one has black markings on some of his body and even has black colored head handles that attach to his chrome like helmet. All of them move very robotic like, jerky and somewhat stiff, the one entering the room is no exception. He approaches the center of the room and talks to the Cyberman operating the holo-imager.  
  
"What is the status of the ship we encountered?"  
  
The sliver robot nods, "Leader. It has fallen behind, scans indicate it has suffered major damage and is unable to pursue us much longer."  
  
"Excellent!" the sliver leader says with an almost monotone emotional response.  
  
"The humans have become weaker then we could have anticipated. There is but only a small grouping of their vessels near the planet, but they will pose no threat to us."  
  
The Cyberman officer continues to look at his leader, "Our forces have also suffered severe losses. The humans managed to take out nearly all of our fleet before we entered the system."  
  
The Leader just clasps his metal fist, "It was a necessary action. We have managed to break through this time and can now begin our conquest of the Earth. Our position needs to be close by as we begin our final plan, nothing must stand in our way of taking back what is ours!"  
  
The pilot just lowers his head in a quick nod, "Leader."  
  
Returning to his holo-imager, the Cyberman continues to plot a course for the human home world. The black marked Cyberman walks off to the side and finishes his thought.  
  
"Our world is gone...but soon...so will the Earthmen's be as well. Punishment for their stupidity and revenge for all of us!"  
  
â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢  
  
Back on the crippled Earth ship, the Doctor and Andrea help clean up the bridge, Megan manages to get most of the crew patched up and the captain continues to question the strange man.  
  
"Doctor...what are you a Doctor of? Exactly?"  
  
"Everything...well mostly everything.... Science, biology, mechanical engineering...But I do come highly qualified, trust me my good man.", the Doctor says smiling at him.  
  
"I see.", the captain says stroking his chin, "Do you know how to repair interstellar stardrive engines?"  
  
The Doctor laughs aloud, "HA! I knew you'd ask me...now that you mention it, I do. Uhm...which generation? Mark IV? Nimbus V? Wait! Wait...don't tell me.... ooh.... Deltacore Saturn VIII! Am I right?"  
  
The crew seems impressed with his knowledge of various engine types, but also snicker at the fact that he's such an odd person. The captain can't help but break a smirk as the quirky man as it appears he does know the various engine models.  
  
"Actually...its Nine now."  
  
"Ah...well...", the Doctor says brushing off his clothes and folding his arms behind his back, "Nine just happens to be my lucky number. Technically it's ten...but I don't think anyone here will care too much if I just bend the rules for now."  
  
A quick wink from the short brown haired Timelord made Megan chuckle at his foolish behavior. The graying captain looked over at her and pointed.  
  
"Well since you find it so amusing Doctor Kesley, I think you should be the one to show him to the engine core. I can't waste my time throwing him into the brig...might as well take all the help I can."  
  
Andrea just raised her hand like a lost school girl, "Uhm...what about me? I can help too you know."  
  
The Doctor turned around at her and patted her head, "Ah well as my assistant you need to help me...so.... you'll be staying here with the captain, while I go and tinker with an obsolete engine."  
  
Megan walks over to him with confusion, "Obsolete? That's top of the line..."  
  
"Mmm...yes...two thousand years ago. I mean really get with the times humanity." The Doctor says looking at her.  
  
Both Megan and the captain glance at one another as this strange individual calls their technology obsolete. Andrea sighs at the Timelord's instructions, she plops herself down in the chair and begins to dust off one of the computer terminals. Megan turns around to guide the Doctor to the engine room, but soon finds that he's almost out the door as he starts shouting back at her.  
  
"Well come on, come on! Haven't got all day you know. There's Cybermen to stop..."  
  
Megan runs quickly to catch up to the man as he sprints out of the room as if he knows where he's going. The captain just shakes his head at the absurdity of the odd person and looks over at Andrea.  
  
"Is he always like that?"  
  
"Huh? Like what?", she asks.  
  
"You know...full of himself."  
  
She sighs again, "I think all Timelords must be."  
  
The captain squints at her, "Time what?"  
  
"Ugh...nevermind.", she says rolling her eyes, "Let's just work on getting this place up and running again. Before the Doctor comes back to chew us out for slacking off."  
  
Walking through the corridors again, Megan tries to catch up with the Doctor as he frantically walks down to the elevator. Hard to believe he's so quick, it seems that she's more out of breath then he'll ever be. Finally he stops in front of the elevator shaft and pushes a button for service. Megan arrives behind him and finally has a rest; she looks at him and can see his mind is on something else entirely.  
  
"Credit for your thought", she says jokingly.  
  
"Penny", the Doctor says back sharply.  
  
"I beg your pardon?"  
  
The Doctor sighs, "The phrase is 'a penny for your thought'...oh nevermind."  
  
Shaking his head, the Timelord realizes it's useless trying to correct this woman's misquote. Humans love to change phrases to fit the times and even create new ones that almost sound exactly like the ones spoken before. It's the typical double talk he's come to expect from this species and often wonders how any of them know what the hell they are saying to each other at all. Megan still looks curious as they wait for the elevator and tries to question the Timelord further.  
  
"Something you said puzzles me Doctor."  
  
"Oh? Is that so...Doctor...Kesley?"  
  
She smirks, "You mentioned the Cybermen/Dalek war...that you knew what happened about that. What did you really mean?"  
  
Rubbing his head he exhaled rather coyly, "I meant that...I know why your planet didn't prepare better for the war."  
  
The elevator doors swung open and the two of them walked in. As the doors shut and the elevator began moving down, she continued her inquest on the matter.  
  
"Why didn't we? I mean...I've heard some rumors...that we were having financial troubles...that the countries couldn't agree.... but I'd like to hear what you know. If you don't mind that is."  
  
The quirky man snickered and gave in, "Technology my dear girl.... technology. It really does consume your race a good deal you know. Whatever someone else has, you have to have it more. The Daleks and Cybermen are the same way. They began a war with each other that lasted for many centuries and even many time streams. The humans tried to end the war on both worlds long ago, but failed miserably. So they sat on the fence as it were and waited for them to finish each other off. I suppose they wanted to scoop up whatever was left and become just as powerful as they were."  
  
Megan blinks for a second, "Were? You sound as if they're already gone or something?"  
  
"They will be...eventually. If there's one thing that's constant in the universe it's that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Nobody should expect to have more then what they already have.", the Doctor says like a wise elder.  
  
Megan just nods at his wisdom, "I suppose that is true. Wait, how do you know all this?"  
  
The Doctor just smiles brightly at her and taps his nose, "Experience my dear...let's just say I've been around the block and back."  
  
The elevator stops and the doors open. They both step out and see a fiery mess down the corridor to the engine room, bodies are everywhere and debris is either smoldering around them or embedded in the hallway walls. Megan and the Doctor run into the engine room and see the very young crew trying to douse the fires and repair the equipment. Not many have survived the ordeal, and looking at them the Doctor can tell not many have the experience to rebuild a sophisticated engine. Taking off his red smoking jacket and laying down on one of the chairs nearby, he helps a youth lift up a panel crushing his friend on the ground. Megan begins to search the various crew for injuries and even tries to care for those that are dying. The dirt begins to smear on the Doctor's yellow-ish sweater vest, that are full of question marks knitted into its fabric. After helping the young man save his friend, the Doctor pats him on the back and leans in to talk to him. The room is too full of noise to even talk normally, sirens are blaring, people are screaming out and the sound of equipment popping and sparking is everywhere.  
  
"Where's the Engine core?", the Timelord screams at him.  
  
"Back there, behind that blast door...we had to close it because of the radiation."  
  
The Doctor looks over and sees the dual hydraulic doors shut tight; he nods to the young boy and begins to walk over to them. The kid thinks the man is a fool for going over there and tires to stop him.  
  
"Are you nuts?! You can't go in there! The engine might flare up and turn it into a fireball!"  
  
The Doctor takes the young boy's hand off of his person and just places back at him.  
  
"Don't fret child...I'm not going to be long. And besides...I'm not built like all of you."  
  
The Doctor pushes the flashing button on the side panel beside the door and it opens up. The room looks totally red and full of fire, but showing no fear on his face, the Timelord steps in and lets the black dual doors close behind him. Megan sees the fool going in and quickly runs over to the young kid who's standing there in awe.  
  
"What the hell is he doing? You should have stopped him!"  
  
"I...I warned him. I warned him..." the kid kept saying over and over as he was still in amazement the man went in.  
  
Megan quickly tried to open the doors with the side controls, but nothing was happening. She then ripped off the panel and tried re-wiring them in a vain attempt to force them open. But even that did nothing. Pounding her fists on the door, she screamed at the insane man inside.  
  
"Doctor! Doctor! Get out of there!"  
  
Suddenly a large explosion was heard inside of it and more warning signals rang out, the young boy snapped out of his stupor and looked at the information being displayed on the computer console. His eyes widened and looked over at Megan with a grim face.  
  
"My...my god.... It flared up! I think...I think..."  
  
Megan ran over and pushed the boy aside, looking at the computer, she suddenly realized what the boy was trying to say. In her ear communicator, the captain was calling for her.  
  
"Doctor Kesley? What's going on down there? What's happening?"  
  
Megan stares out blankly and gives him the news, "The Doctor...he was in the engine room...it flared up sir. And well...I'm sorry to report, The Doctor is Dead."  
  
Looking over to the black doors, Megan can't believe the person she was just talking to minutes ago is now gone. Perhaps the only man that could have helped them in their hour of need.  
  
On the Bridge of the ship, Andrea collapses to the floor in disbelief, the Doctor was her dearest friend and the only one who could save them from the Cybermen. The captain stood over her and reached down to pick her up.  
  
"Get up woman! Come on! We can't have all this emotion...we've got to pick up and move on!"  
  
He stands her up forcefully and shakes her to get the woman out of her stupor. Andrea doesn't like his rough handling and grabs the man's arm and twists it around behind him. The gruff captain was surprised by her strength and found that he was now being put in an uncomfortable position. Andrea held on to his arm and clasped him around the chest with her other arm.  
  
"Don't touch me!",she says angrily, "You can't bully around like one your crew. You got that? The Doctor was my friend and someone that understood things a lot more then you will ever know in your own lifetime."  
  
The captain squirmed and tried to ease the pain she was inflicting on him, but since he was unable to find the words to answer her, he simply nodded. Seeing he acknowledged her, she released him and took a few steps back to give him space. The captain nursed his arm like a wounded animal and stared at the crew who did nothing to help him. The men and women standing all around had been watching the whole senario play out, but once they saw he was back in command again, they quickly returned to their duties. Looking at this fairly beautiful woman, the captain chuckled slightly and wondered where the hell she and the Doctor came from.  
  
"Nice moves...Andrea was it? I suppose you were in the Earth Army Marine unit...."  
  
Andrea kept a good stare at the captain and only raised her eyebrows, " Acutally...It was the canadian police force. "  
  
Her statement confused the captain. Countries and nations no longer exist in this future, for the wars with the Cybermen and the Daleks have made them all one species under one flag. Earth is considered their only unity and for now their only concern. The U.S., Britain, Canada, etc...nations of old are long gone, the continents still inhabit the race, but there are no titles on these lands anymore. Which is why the captain is confused by Andrea's words and why he simply shakes off what she says, he returns to his focus on the task at hand and the Cybermen. Andrea leaves the bridge as the captain no longer takes interest in her and heads down to the engine room to find out what happened.  
  
Down in the Engine Room, Megan and the other young crew with her try to evacuate the area as the place becomes dangerous after the deadly flare up. As Megan guides the others out a sudden shift in the power snaps on, the room becomes well lit and the computers once again function, as they should. The young crew runs back in and checks out all the circuitry as well as the engine read outs.  
  
"I don't believe it!", the young black male shouts, "The engines are falling back to norm!"  
  
Megan runs over and looks at the same computer again, "I don't believe it, the engine is back at full capacity.... the radiation and plasma gases are venting. But how? The explosion would have destroyed that room."  
  
Andrea suddenly comes running in and stands next to Megan, "Where is the Doctor? We need to get his body out of there at least. Don't let his corpse burn for pity sakes!"  
  
Megan smiles at her, "Andrea...I think...I think he might have saved the ship."  
  
Suddenly the engine core's emergency blast doors slide open and the Doctor comes running through unscathed.  
  
"Dear god! Who the hell put the pressure up that high! It's no wonder your ship isn't at full speed."  
  
Andrea and Megan's eyes light up and both shout joyfully out in unison, "DOCTOR!!"  
  
The Doctor bushes himself off as if he soiled his suit a bit, once he was finished he looked at the many faces gawking at him as he just stood there.  
  
"Hello? What's all this then? You look as if someone had died?"  
  
Andrea runs over and gives him a hug, "You twit! We thought you had...there was an explosion and...and..."  
  
The Timelord chuckled at her, "Oh that...well I had to expel some of the plasma in order to give the engine some breathing room...otherwise this whole vessel would have been a fire ball. Always duck and roll when attempting such a feat...I almost forgot and it nearly too my eyebrows off."  
  
Megan smiled, walked over and patted him on the shoulder, "Amazing Doctor...but what about the radiation in there...it should have killed you."  
  
"Ah...yes...", the Doctor smiles and pulls Andrea way from him, "That I didn't escape from, but nothing a few minutes in the de-contamination chamber won't fix, at least in this century you've got the means to cure it.... and you too Andrea."  
  
"Me? Why I didn't get exposed?"  
  
The Doctor grabs her arm and lifts it up to her face, "Yes you did...you just hugged me. So now you're exposed as well.... as are you all."  
  
Megan takes out a medical scanner from her pocket and tests the room, "He's right...we'll all need some time in the chamber for a few minutes...or even hours."  
  
"Right!", The Timelord shouts out.  
  
He clasps his hands and looks at all of them with a big toothy grin, "So then shall we all have a spot of tea while we wait in the chamber? Hm?"  
  
â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢  
  
The Cybermen ships continue to close in on Earth as it passes by Saturn's defenses. The various numbers of human vessels launch out of the planet's rings and follow closely behind them firing their laser cannons at the invading ships. The Cybermen vessels don't stop moving and point their cannons at the ships closing in behind. Inside the main ship, the Cyberman controller views them on the floating holo-imager, the Cyberman leader standing behind him looks on as well.  
  
"Co-ordinate our ships, Destroy them...immediately!"  
  
"Yes, Leader. All ships are targeting vessels.... cannons online.... Executing!"  
  
Outside the three ships, the large weapons blast huge bursts of energy that hurl over to the smaller human vessels and shatter them into pieces. The debris flies across space as each one is destroyed by their hit; each human ship tries to cause damage to the alien vessel before the blast wave crushes them to death. As soon as the last one is gone, the Cybermen increase their speed and continue towards Earth.  
  
â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢  
  
The Doctor, Andrea and Megan return to the main bridge, they enter the room to see the captain strolling around it very proudly. As he turns around, they notice the man is smiling and nearly running over to shake the Doctor's hand.  
  
"Good job Doctor...very well done! I'm so sorry I ever doubted you..."  
  
The Doctor smiles and becomes modest, "Oh it was nothing my dear sir...think nothing of it. A few tweaks here and there..."  
  
The graying captain laughs, "A few tweaks. You are a blessing in disguise Doctor! Do you know you've brought this ship back to full power in a matter of minutes? We're finally catching up towards the Cybermen thanks to you."  
  
Andrea and Megan both give a "what the-?" kind of look at each other as the captain's reactions is far different then either one has seen on him before. The Doctor smiles and pats him on the shoulder.  
  
"Enough captain...you'll inflate my ego to no end. Now then...how close are we to catch up, hmm?"  
  
The captain looks back at the monitor and points to the graphic display, it has images of two ships, one is theirs in blue and the other three are the Cybermen ships in red.  
  
"They're almost in range of Earth, we'll be there in a few minutes as well...I just hope this isn't our final hour."  
  
The Doctor folds his arms behind his back as he looks up as well, "Oh I somehow doubt that captain...humans are nothing but resourceful. But I would advise a course of action you should take with your surviving fleet. Your weapons are far too ill-equipped to take out one vessel alone...no, no...you need concentrate on each ship and fire at them all together."  
  
"That's insane Doctor.", Megan blurts out, "We can't stop one at time, they'll have the other ships that are unoccupied to fire on the Earth. "  
  
The Timelord walks over to her and frantically explains his reasoning.  
  
"Think about the damage you haven't done, hmm? You've seen how much your weapons have not been able to pierce the skin of those thick hulls. The ships that confronted them outside the solar system must have figured out the same thing...sadly, their efforts only managed to stop all but three. But thanks to their efforts there are only three left!"  
  
The captain strokes his grey beard as he listens to the Timelord's ranting. His eyes light up as he begins to realize the Doctor is speaking the truth. But as he stands there ready to agree with the oddly dressed man, Aidela shouts back at the commander in hysterics.  
  
"Captain!! One of the ships is turning round at us! I think they've discovered us closing in!!"  
  
The commander races back to his captain's chair and barks orders at them all.  
  
"Steady helm...bring all batteries to full, increase the hull shielding and prepare all decks for battle. Sound the alarm."  
  
The woman nods, "Aye, sir."  
  
The red flashing lights re-appear and the sound of alarm bells ring out again. On the main viewer, the lead Cyberman ship has finally come into their space and begins to aim their weapons at them. The Doctor and Andrea look on in horror as the ship comes in to full view of the screen, it looks even more deadlier then last time and now has every cannon pointed directly at them. The Doctor reaches into his pocket and takes out a white handkerchief to wipe his brow from all the tension.  
  
"Good lord, we don't have the power to stop them. I think I need to return to engineering and see about boosting the main weapons to full power."  
  
Andrea grabs onto him for dear life, "How will that help us? "  
  
"Perhaps channeling the entire energy of this ship into one focused blast will give us the means to damage them. Or at the very least puncture them in a devastating way..."  
  
The captain looks back at him with great anger, "Well for heaven's sake man, get down there on the double!!"  
  
"Right!" the Doctor screams out, "Andrea stay here and help Megan...I must try to give them the edge they need!"  
  
Andrea nods, "Ok...but hurry back Doctor!"  
  
The plump-faced Timelord scurries out of the room and down the corridor in a flash. Andrea runs over to Megan and watches her work on one of the computers surrounding the captain's chair. Young pilot Raynard trembles as he studies his scanner and gives the commander an update of the Cybermen's position.  
  
"They're closing in on us sir.... I'm reading a massive build up of energy in their main guns...man we are so fried!!"  
  
The captain shouts at the nervous boy, "Pull it together kid...target all our guns and prepare to fire on the Doctor's signal."  
  
The Cybermen ship continues to inch in on the screen and everyone looks extremely nervous as they wait for the Timelord to work his magic.  
  
"Come on Doctor.... Come on...", the captain says under his breath.  
  
The female pilot sees a flashing light on her board and taps on the button next to it.  
  
"Sir!", She shouts out to the captain, "Someone has open shuttle bay one...."  
  
The captain runs over to her and looks at the controls, "Well shut it then!"  
  
The woman taps away at the controls, "I can't sir...it's too late. One of the shuttles is leaving..."  
  
Andrea looks down at the ground and sees the Doctor's handkerchief sitting right where he was standing not more then a few minutes ago. She walks over to it and picks it up. Suddenly a small black glove drops out of it and she once again lowers herself to pick it up. Studying it carefully, she soon has a look of confusion, as it looks almost like the one they found in the TARDIS. Her eyes grow wide with fear and starts to run out of the room and screams away for the Doctor. The captain and Aidela stare up at the screen as they see the small craft heading way from the ship.  
  
"Who's in that thing? What's it's heading?"  
  
Young Raynard looks at his scanner, "Unknown life form reading sir...but it's heading straight towards the Cybermen ship. I'll be damned.... the Cybermen are opening up their shuttle bay..."  
  
The captain looks angry and pounds on the computer, "We had a damn spy on board all along! "  
  
Inside the Cybermen ship, the shuttle begins to land in the open bay and the doors quickly close in behind it. A large group of Cybermen soldiers walk over to the small craft and aim their weapons at the back door of the ship. The shuttle powers down and the back end section lowers down a door with steps leading out of the shuttle. The main Cyberman soldier steps ahead and waits for the person to appear out of the craft. In the shadows of the shuttle's interior, a silhouette of a man can be seen as he stands near the exit.  
  
"You are to be destroyed! Remove yourself from the craft and be prepared for execution!", the tin man says out loud.  
  
The shadowy figure inside chuckles, "I think not...you are here to do my bidding. Lower your weapons and take me to your lab."  
  
The Cyberman is astonished at the man's stupid remark, but the curious side of the being makes him step forward and stares the man down.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
The man steps out of the shadows and now becomes totally viewable in the lights.  
  
"I'm the Doctor."  
  
It is indeed the Doctor, the mauve smoking jacket and miss-matched clothing are the very garments he was wearing not more then a few moments ago. Smiling away like a madman the Doctor soon begins laughing to top of his lungs in an overly evil tone. The Cybermen look at one another in confusion as the Timelord laughs away, the echo bouncing off the metal interior of the shuttle bay making it sound deep and forbidding.  
  
To be continued... 


	2. Doctor Who The Cyberman Apocalypse Part...

Part II  
  
The Dotor and Andrea have landed in the middle of a war between the Cybermen and Earth. Now racing to stop the Cybermen from destroying the planet, the crew of a human vessel reluctantly use the Doctor's help to fix their ship and return them back on course to save Earth. But as they try to stop one of the Cybermen vessels, one of their shuttles is used to transport someone over to the enemy's landing bay. As the person steps off of the shuttle's ramp the Cybermen are shocked to see just who it is. It is the Doctor.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
The man steps out of the shadows and now becomes totally viewable in the lights.  
  
"I'm the Doctor."  
  
It is indeed the Doctor, the mauve smoking jacket and miss-matched clothing are the very garments he was wearing not more then a few moments ago. Smiling away like a madman the Doctor soon begins laughing to top of his lungs in an overly evil tone. The Cybermen look at one another in confusion as the Timelord laughs away, the echo bouncing off the metal interior of the shuttle bay making it sound deep and forbidding. The Doctor slowly steps down out of the shuttle and comes face to face with the lead Cyberman.  
  
"The Doctor must be destroyed. You are the Doctor..." the Cyberman says like a confused machine.  
  
"Yes I am...now be a good tin man and open up your data files. M915-22104 to be exact...Open the one called ' Phoenix' "  
  
The Cybermen all hear the command given by the Timelord and seem to twitch as they search for the memory file within their brains. The lead Cyberman stopped his twitching and looked back at the Doctor very calmly.  
  
"I understand...."  
  
The Timelord smiled evilly again, "Good...take those commands and repeat them to the rest of the crew. Repeat and obey...."  
  
"Yes...leader."  
  
The Cyberman turns around and points at the others to obey his instructions, they all nod in unison and head back into the ship's corridors. The slivery mechanical man turns around and faces the Doctor again.  
  
"Everything you asked for is prepared. Though...I do not understand how we come to know all of this."  
  
The Timelord smiles an evil toothy grin, "It was arranged a long time ago. A few simple command structures into your basic programming and so forth."  
  
The Cyberman still stands there struggling to understand, "But what of the other Cybermen vessels...are we to.... contact them as well?"  
  
The Doctor knocks on the metal man's head, "Oh don't blow a fuse over it...they will proceed to Earth and kill the humans. You will join the battle soon enough...but first, I need to have a look at my lab you've secretly constructed for me and I in turn will show you the secrets of the Timelords. Come..."  
  
The Doctor confidently walks out the room with the Cyberman and proceeds to walk down the long spartan halls of the ship.  
  
â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢  
  
"What are they waiting for?" The captain says on the Earth ship.  
  
They've all been watching the viewer intensely as the Cyberman ship hangs there silent in space, gun poised at them and looking very forbidding. The aging commander shakes his head in confusion as he is obviously waiting for their end to come.  
  
"Well if they won't finish us...we'll finish them instead. Fire all weapons!"  
  
The two pilots press their buttons on the console, but nothing happens. The two look at each other in disbelief and try to push the buttons again repeatedly.  
  
"Nothing sir!" The black female pilot shouts.  
  
"Same here...I'm getting no response!" The young man hollers back as well.  
  
The captain leans back in his chair with a face of utter hopelessness and sighs under his breath.  
  
"So...we're dead."  
  
Down in the shuttle bay, Andrea runs into the room where the TARDIS still sits. It is the same bay area where the shuttle was launched moments ago. Noticing the fact, she quickly runs over to the police box and screams for the Doctor, pounding on the blue door, she soon discovers that it wasn't properly closed. She dashes inside and enters into the white perforated console room. Frantically she searches all about for the Timelord friend, still calling out for his name and even peeking in and out of the few doors that lead deeper into the TARDIS. She soon realizes that he is nowhere to be found and now believes her worst fears have come true. The Doctor was on that shuttle.  
  
"Why.... why would he go? Why would he leave us?" She says wiping away the tears and trying to think of a reason.  
  
"Think girl, think.... what have I over looked?"  
  
Across the room, she notices the small wooden cabinet had moved from its original place, the one that seemed to hum and had the other black glove placed on top of it earlier. She wandered over to study it and even felt it again to feel the vibration. With great curiosity she began looking behind the wooden cabinet, she noticed the back panel was open and there was room enough for one person to get behind it. As she stepped into it's space, she began to crawl into the opening until she was fully inside. Suddenly, she could feel herself almost falling in and landed on her feet. As she stumbled in wards towards a bright light, she quickly realized she had entered another room. Looking around quite surprised by the fact, she noticed an eerie familiarity about the new room she had been pulled into. Slightly darker in color and with an odd red light shining around the perforated walls, she blurted out where she had seen this sort of place before.  
  
"I'm in the TARDIS?" She says with amazement. "How can this be? I was just in this room...but...wait...it's different in here. I don't remember it being so gloomy and red."  
  
A strike of realization hit her like a bolt of lightning, "I was right! This is another Timelord ship. Oh my god! But...how did it get in here? Who is this bastard doing this to us?"  
  
Walking over to the control panel, she notices how slightly different in design it is compared to the Doctor's machine.  
  
"Whoever this person is...seems like they have the same taste in decorators. But that still doesn't help me any. Oh Doctor...where the hell are you? I could really use your help right now."  
  
As she studies the controls and looks at the various objects within the room, she fails to notice that the large doors behind her are slowly closing without making a sound. As they finally slam shut together, she turns around to see them completely locking her in. Desperate to get out, she runs over to them and tries to pry them open with her hands and fingers. The panicked woman screams for them to open up and even kicks it with her foot as if it would make a difference. A whooshing noise begins to build, as Andrea turns her head back at the console to see the large pulsating center column moving up and down.  
  
"Where are you taking me?!!" She screams to the top of her lungs.  
  
She collapses on the floor and holds herself tight fearing that she absolutely has no control over what is going on. The pulsating sound of the darker TARDIS fills the room as the column continues to move up and down. The horror of being trapped in a strange Timelord ship other then the Doctor's frightens her to no end.  
  
On the bridge of the ship, the captain looks over at Megan who is trying to contact Andrea on the intercom.  
  
"Andrea.... Come in Andrea. Please give us a status...is the Doctor alright?"  
  
"Where the hell are those two?" The captain demands at her.  
  
Megan opens her mouth as if to continue talking into the intercom, but quickly shuts it to answer her commanding officer.  
  
"I...I don't know sir. Someone reported seeing her on 'C' Deck and then.... well she's gone missing as well."  
  
The captain stands up in a furious anger and paces around the bridge.  
  
"Two missing persons...a shuttle boarding an enemy ship and now no weapons to even fire. How could I have been such a fool? We should have shot them on sight!"  
  
Megan steps away from her console and stands in his path in defiance.  
  
"Sir. With all due respect I still don't think either one of them is the traitor. Andrea and the Doctor have managed to keep us afloat and even back up to spec engine wise. If the two them were spies that wanted us to fail...why not simply let us blow up?"  
  
The captain stares her down and explodes with anger, "Because they wanted us here to do it that's why!! Just look at our position, the only ship left from the outer rim that could help the Earth defense stop the last remaining Cybermen from stomping the planet out of existence!!!"  
  
The crew looks at the raving commander as his shouting sends a chill down their spines; his screaming like a wild mad man gives them fear that this is a hopeless battle and even a doomed mission. Megan still stands in front of him with a defiant look, she's not afraid of his harsh words, nor his insane manner. But calmly gives her advice once again.  
  
"Sir. No offense...but that's a load of crap. The Cybermen don't care where or how they kill, they don't even need to trick us to do it. We've all seen how they attack and how they keep using the same strategy over and over again. I can't say why or who was on board that shuttle...but who ever it was just bought us some time. I recommend we go to immediate full speed to Earth and repair the weapons as quickly as we can."  
  
The captain nervously chews on his finger as he looks at her, his eyes dart around as he thinks about her recommendation and quickly nods.  
  
"Yes...Yes you're.... You're right. We need to secure Earth. To hell with them...lets press on and hope the other ship doesn't follow us. I'm in command...yes.... that's right...I'm the captain."  
  
Sitting back in his chair giggling to himself, he shakes off his madness and comes back into focus.  
  
"Helm...double time to Earth. Move!"  
  
Both pilots nod and steer the ship for home. As the ship moves away from the silent Cyberman vessel, it suddenly jumps into hyperspace and disappears from sight. The Cyberman ship begins to move, and turns itself in the direction of the human vessel, it slowly builds up speed and quickly pursues after the other ship. Inside the Cyberman craft, the metal men continue to monitor the other two vessels well ahead of them, on the floating screen around the Cyberman pilot shows two red dots approaching a larger blue dot.  
  
"Leader, Our vessels have finally entered Earth orbit."  
  
The Cyberman behind him with darker colors on his helmet nods gently.  
  
"Excellent. Have they begun the attack?"  
  
The pilot touches the screen and a scrolling alien text appears before him.  
  
"It has begun Leader. The humans were unprepared for our close jump and are losing a major part of their defense forces. It seems that we are about to win the war at long last."  
  
The lead Cyberman raises his head in pride and clutches his fist.  
  
"Perfect. All our enemies will be crushed and now with the Timelord helping us... we will become the masters of time and space."  
  
As the Earth ship races for home, the young pilot Raynard suddenly notices the Cybermen catching up to them. Looking panicked and breathing heavily he shouts out to his captain about the coming vessel.  
  
"Sir!! The Cybermen are right behind us! Gaining speed and...and..."  
  
The captain would here none of it, "Shut up! Keep going to Earth...we'll deal with it when we get there!"  
  
The black female co-pilot looks at a monitor and studies the data coming in on it, with wide eyes she looks back at the captain and reports.  
  
"Sir scans ahead report Earth is under full scale attack!"  
  
Megan's face gives a look of horror.  
  
"No..." She gasps.  
  
The captain punches the button at the side of his chair and leans back into softly.  
  
"Attention all hands." the Captain's voice transmits throughout the ship. "All available personal are to report to main engineering and ship defenses. Repairs are a priority one condition; I want weapons online as soon as we have them. This is it...time has run out and Earth is now under attack. Remember your loved ones and friends who need us to stop the Cybermen at all costs. Do your duties and never wavier...once more unto the breach dear friends. For Earth, for each other, for the very survival of humanity..."  
  
Turning his head towards Megan, who looks at the captain with tears in her eyes, he gazes at her and gives the command.  
  
"Red Alert. Battle Stations!"  
  
â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢  
  
Deep inside the pursuing Cybermen vessel, in a room full of mechanical equipment and strange objects that only a scientist could dream of building himself lays the Doctor on an inclined table restrained and unconscious. Metal straps surround his top head like a crown, with wires and large pulsating fiber optics sticking out all over it. The Timelord slowly opens his eyes and tries to rise from his position. But as he moves he realizes his hands and feet are strapped down, his jacket removed and looking very confused.  
  
"Wha...where the hell am I? I was on my way to the weapons area..."  
  
A voice booms out from behind him, covered in shadow and wearing the same black gloves that Andrea and he had discovered before.  
  
"Ah, Good...you're finally awake Doctor. I was hoping you would be..."  
  
The Doctor still struggles, trying to see whom it is that is talking to him from behind.  
  
"Who's there? What are doing to me? Where am I? Hm?"  
  
The shadowy figure laughs out loud.  
  
"Oh Doctor...such the inquisitive one aren't you. But then again, you've always been that way...if it eases your mind, I'll tell you. You're on the Cybermen vessel, in one of their laboratories."  
  
The Timelord's eyes grow wide with panic, "What?!"  
  
The mysterious man continues to snicker and comes closer to the Doctor's ear. His gloved hand sits within the corner of the Doctor's right eye, the only part of the man the Doctor can see for the time being.  
  
"Yes Doctor." The man now says to him in a lower tone of voice. "You are on their ship...on your way to witness the end of humanity as you know it. Or it could be the end of the Cybermen's...however you wish to view things. One way or another...it is the end for all of us now."  
  
The Doctor again looks confused by the man's mutterings.  
  
"Us? You mean the Cybermen or Humans don't you?"  
  
The shadowy figure steps out of the light and faces the disabled Timelord sitting helpless on the table. As he comes into full view, the Doctor gazes on the man's face and peers at him to recognize the man's identity.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Look closer Doctor..." the man says to him.  
  
The man standing there is dressed in a black; everything he has on is dark black in color. His boots with a polished shine, his pants that slightly cover the boots even tucked into them, his one piece jacket that has a collar raised around his neck and his slicked back crop of hair even looks as black as midnight. If the Doctor had to guess...the man was in his early 30's or late 20's, a Caucasian gentleman with no facial hair at all. His eyes didn't look human, grey in color but pupils were almost as small as pinholes. Shaking his head, the Doctor hadn't the slightest idea who he was.  
  
"Sorry...can't say I remember the face. But those eyes of yours aren't real...cybernetic implants perhaps?"  
  
The man giggles to himself and steps closer to the Doctor.  
  
"More then that my dear friend. Still you do not see? No...I don't suppose you would. Changes I've had many, but this is the ultimate one I've ever had done. Look close Doctor...look close and see the face of your greatest nemesis. I've only ever had one name to call my own...."  
  
The Doctor's face becomes gaunt and now shutters in terror as he realizes whom it is standing in front of him.  
  
"The Master?!"  
  
The man in black laughs with sheer insanity, and gives a wide toothy grin with delight.  
  
"In the flesh...so to speak."  
  
"It's not possible!" The Doctor shouts shaking his head in doubt. "You are not him! The Master was destroyed...he was destroyed a long time ago!"  
  
The man leans in and smiles at him, "No Doctor. I'm right here."  
  
"You...you can't be him..." The Timelord repeatedly states. "He was killed in a struggle...in my TARDIS...he was pulled into the Eye of Harmony. The power core of the TARDIS, there is no escaping from it..."  
  
The man steps back and rubs his chin in thought.  
  
"Yes...I did die in that accident Doctor. My body was ripped apart, flesh was stripped, bones crushed into powder, there was nothing left of me..."  
  
The Master faces away from the Doctor and closes his eyes in memory.  
  
"But my essence endured. My thoughts, my mind, the very will power I managed to summon up as I became one with the Eye. For me...time and space became one. I felt as if the cosmos was part of me, stretching to every corner of existence known. There I stayed...and there I waited."  
  
The Doctor couldn't help but listen to the man ranting on; it was fascinating to him and at the same time almost too great a story to believe. The Master turned back around and opened his eyes at the confused Doctor, now shaking his dark gloved fist at him and continuing on with his rambling.  
  
"Just long enough to pull myself back together and return to a singular form. I realized I was still inside of your TARDIS, that the core as limitless at it was, it was still a part of your machine. Revenge was all on my mind now, revenge on you, the Timelords and the universe at large. I wasn't going to let myself die so easily...not when I still have so much work to do. That's when I took over your TARDIS and planted myself into your brain!"  
  
The Doctor scoffed him.  
  
"Please...You're utterly insane. I have no memory of you doing such a thing..."  
  
The Master leans in closer at him.  
  
"Are you sure about that? Let me refresh your memory...Doctor. You were calmly traveling through the vortex, when all of a sudden a power surge came out of the space/time corridor. The controls became erratic and a bolt of energy spiked out of your main column."  
  
The Doctor soon had the memories come back to him, in his mind's eye; he could see it all take place as the Master told him of what happened.  
  
"You tried to reach the override and bring the TARDIS to a halt. But the energy bolt leapt out and struck you down..."  
  
"Yes..." The Doctor now remembers. "It felt like pure energy was ripping every cell in my body. I reached the controls and managed to force the TARDIS to land...I felt like I was on fire...or like...like..."  
  
The Master stood up and grinned down at him.  
  
"Like you were having a Regeneration."  
  
"My God!", The Doctor says to him with anger. "It was you...I could feel your mind inside...my body thought it was dying and...and...and it regenerated. You Bastard!"  
  
The Master laughed, "A forced Regeneration my dear Doctor! Something no Timelord has ever done to another by sheer will alone. Not since the days of Rassilon. I am a God!"  
  
"No...NOOOO!!!" the Doctor screams.  
  
Continuing to laugh, The Master walks over and pinches the Doctor's cheek. The helpless Timelord strapped to the table violently shakes it with all of his strength in a futile effort to break free. Anger at the evil Timelord makes him growl with hatred at the man and finally gives up once he discovers it is useless. The Master smirks at his rival and sits in a steel chair beside him. The only chair in the entire room or even the ship, seeing how the Cybermen do not need them at all.  
  
"Poor Doctor." He says to him still chuckling slightly. "All this time, I was inside of your feeble brain. When Andrea found you in the Canadian Rockies, I was changing your body to fit my needs. I only came out when it suited my needs...remember Roswell Doctor? No? I took over you're mind as you made the Cyberman discovery there. (- See Encounter at Roswell) I took over when we ran into the Rani ( - See The Time Gambit)...who owed me a favor I might add. It was because of her I was exterminated by the Daleks, she betrayed me and told those creatures where to find me."  
  
The Doctor now calming down, looked up at the evil man and began to see the pattern.  
  
"Ah...so she helped you, the whole Dalek capture was a ploy. She helped you to get revenge on me. I should have known...you never were one that could be killed so easily. No wonder you asked for me specifically to take you back home..."  
  
"I needed your body Doctor..." The Master adds in. "But circumstances on Earth prevented me from acquiring it...those miserable humans made sure of that. This was the plan I had in store for you Doctor...to take your body...use the TARDIS to steer me to the Cyberman home world in the past (- See The Lost World) and have them create a new body for me in the future. And here it is."  
  
The Doctor scowled at the man and rolled eyes.  
  
"So I was only a pawn in your whole scheme of things...terrific. All you had to do was ask..."  
  
The Master shakes his head.  
  
"Even now you joke. I couldn't stand being inside your mind Doctor...such a jumble of stupidity and genius at the same time was appalling. It's a wonder your brain is stable at all."  
  
"So what now, hm?" The Doctor says to him. "Kill all the humans and Cybermen? For what? Was that part of your...grand plan was it?"  
  
"You mock me Doctor."  
  
"Sorry...but after being in my brain you'd think that would be obvious, wouldn't you?" he says smirking at him for a change.  
  
The Master straightened up and clenched his fists.  
  
"So damn smug...so foolishly like child. I'm going to enjoy watching you die Doctor...But not before the Cybermen destroy Earth in the past."  
  
"I beg your pardon?" The quirky Timelord asks.  
  
The Master backs away slowly from his rival and grins.  
  
"I've given the Cybermen just what they've always wanted. The secrets of the TARDIS. Now they can launch a full scale invasion into Earth's past...and forever end the human species."  
  
The Doctor now moves his head up with great interest.  
  
"What have you done?! But if that's true...we destroyed the vehicle in the past already...hadn't we?"  
  
The Master still walks back towards the doors leading out of the room and laughs.  
  
"Don't be so sure Doctor...who's to say they only had one ship."  
  
As he walks out the Doctor calls out for him and once again struggles to get free.  
  
"Wait....wait! Come back...come back here! MASTER!!" 


	3. Doctor Who: The Cybermen Apocalypse Part...

Part III –  
  
With Andrea missing in some strange TARDIS and the Cybermen about to begin their final attack on Earth, the Doctor awakens in the Cybermen's Ship lab to discover that the one that has been using him was his old deadly rival, The Master. It was his mind that was corrupting the Doctors and now has had the Cybermen build him a body to house his evil essence. Strapped to a table, the Doctor his helpless to stop the Master as he tells him of the plan he's set in motion.  
  
"I've given the Cybermen just what they've always wanted. The secrets of the TARDIS. Now they can launch a full scale invasion into Earth's past...and forever end the human species."  
  
The Doctor now moves his head up with great interest.  
  
"What have you done?! But if that's true...we destroyed the vehicle in the past already...hadn't we?"  
  
The Master still walks back towards the doors leading out of the room and laughs.  
  
"Don't be so sure Doctor...who's to say they only had one ship."  
  
As he walks out the Doctor calls out for him and once again struggles to get free.  
  
"Wait....wait! Come back...come back here! MASTER!!"  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
Still trapped inside the other TARDIS, Andrea tries to fiddle with all the controls. No longer in motion, the craft now sits dormant as it continues to hum as if the engine is ready to begin at a moments notice. Growing frustrated with every switch, Andrea pulls back her beautifully blonde hair and scowls at every dead end she tries.  
  
"Grrr...I hate this! The Doctor makes it all look so easy. Come on you piece of alien garbage! Open Up!"  
  
Banging her fists on the console with all her might, she notices the two doors behind start to open quickly. Looking around from her shoulder, she begins to laugh joyfully as a way out presence itself. She turns around and prepares to make a dash out of the darkened void that will lead her out of the craft.  
  
"YYYYEEESS!!! Oh good ol' fists...just like any technology...all it needed was a woman's touch. Time to get the hell out of here..."  
  
As she heads for the doors a voice booms out to her from its entrance that makes her pause and look up.  
  
"What's the rush my dear? Don't you like my TARDIS for a change?"  
  
Coming into the dimly lit Timelord vessel is a man in all black, with slicked back hair and a great big grin on his face. The Doctor's nemesis, The Master.  
  
"My dear Andrea...How good to finally see you with my own set of eyes."  
  
Andrea steps back softly as she witnesses this young giggling creep trying to force his way in and blocking her only route out.  
  
"Who the hell are you buddy."  
  
"Just an old friend of the Doctor's..." he says shrugging his shoulders playfully. "And perhaps the one that you two have been looking for all this time."  
  
Andrea pauses again as she thinks and gives a glare up at him pointing her finger.  
  
"You...you're the guy that's been doing this to us. You're the reason why I've been traumatized for life!"  
  
The man continues to giggle with a smile only the devil himself could give.  
  
"Didn't take you too long did it Andrea. Must be that police mind of yours figuring out all the clues...or perhaps...it's only blind luck."  
  
Andrea holds out her hand to keep the man back from her as he continues to approach slowly, the other balls into a fist and is poised back ready to give the man a strike.  
  
"Keep where you are! What have you done with the Doctor? Where is he? Tell me...or I'll wipe that smile off of your face with my fist!"  
  
The Master shakes his head at her foolish threat and stops in his tracks. He gives a quick snort of contempt and folds his arms together.  
  
"Do you really think you can harm me my dear? Your precious, Doctor, is in the care of my new found servants...The Cybermen."  
  
Andrea's shocked look is enough for him to grin again and continue on.  
  
"Yes, yes...the Doctor and you were my only means of acquiring my new body. Thanks to his unconscious mind and your DNA...the Cybermen managed to create a new hybrid form to contain my essence. I am...as they say...immortal."  
  
"What are you babbling about?" Andrea asks confused.  
  
The Master stares her down and unfolds his arms.  
  
"You provided them with fresh DNA to give their cyber-organic a new lease on life, in return for my helping them, they in turn used a program that...over the span of centuries...continue to improve on creating a perfect hybrid body that would eventually end up as my own. A prototype that is perfect in every way...no more having to deal with regenerations, or having to inhabit inferior bodies to sustain me. Now I am unified in one form, with more power and indestructibility that even the Timelords themselves will beg me to give to them."  
  
The man laughs out loud like an insane lunatic. Andrea's frightened gaze is obvious to that fact, never has she ever heard such ravings in all her life. As he continues to laugh and closes his eyes, Andrea tries to make a break for the door, but is quickly subdued by the Master and grips her wrists hard with his new super strength. She screams in pain as the pressure of his hands nearly break her bones. As she falls to the ground in sheer agony, he lowers himself down to her level and almost whispers at her.  
  
"Don't make me do that again my dear. As much as I would love to crush every human in my hands...I strangely do not wish that upon you. Perhaps being inside the Doctor's mind has made me weak, or maybe that I've forgotten what companionship was once like, but somehow...I've come to find you very desirable..."  
  
Andrea's eyes open as she hears him say that, an almost disgust gleam in her eye surfaces as she remains powerless to stop him from saying more.  
  
"You're very beautiful to me Andrea...I can't imagine why? I've never had feelings like this stir in my mind before...I only know is that I want you to be with me...to be my companion in the long voyages of time and space."  
  
Andrea spits in his face as he almost tries to give her a kiss, an action that makes him recoil in shock as he looks at her scowling face.  
  
"Don't you even dare try you asshole! I wouldn't be with you if you were last man in the universe!"  
  
The Master lets go of her wrists and wipes the spittle from his cheek. Rubbing it gently between his fingers, he stands over her and squints his eyes.  
  
"Foolish girl. Very foolish. Together we would have been the rulers of the cosmos...now, you are destined to die. If you want the Doctor so bad...you can be with him in the end."  
  
Andrea continues to look at him with anger, but a feeling of dread washes over her and makes her eyes soften as he spells out her doom.  
  
â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢  
  
The ships battling over the orbit of Earth send out wave after wave of brilliant lights of laser fire amongst each other. The Cybermen ships and the human vessels try to battle one another in heavy firefight. The explosions rock the frail Earth cruisers as they bravely try to destroy the enemy invading their world. Inside one of the Cybermen vessel, the creatures try to maintain their balance as small tremors move them from their footing.  
  
"Leader!", the pilot Cyberman says to the one with black rims standing behind him.  
  
"What is it?", he asks.  
  
"Our weapons are ready to fire on the Earth surface, second ship reports ready, but the third is not yet in orbit."  
  
The Leading Cyberman of the ship leans forward slightly as he listens.  
  
"Where is the third ship?"  
  
"Coming into range now...", It says as it looks at the rotating three hundred sixty degree holographic projection. "It is chasing a human vessel just coming out of hyperspace."  
  
"Perfect." The leader says clutching its fist. "Earth will be eradicated of all imperfect flesh beings and we can finally return to our rightful solar system, Mondas may be lost for all time, but Earth will be our home from this day forward. Begin the sequence!"  
  
The Cyberman pilot nods and begins touching holographic buttons that are displayed beside him. Outside of their ship, four large cannons drop out from large panels that pull away from the hull. All the large weapons begin pointing down at the innocent looking biosphere of Earth, as they target the planet for destruction.  
  
As Megan and her captain come racing in towards Earth in their ship, they see the Cybermen vessel opening up its cannon ports on the main view screen. The captain rises out of his command chair and looks at the weapons with horror. Megan also gives a grim gaze and looks at the captain for orders on what to do next.  
  
"Sir! We have to do something...Captain!"  
  
The captain blinks rapidly as he snaps out of his stunned stupor and sits back into his command chair. Pressing a button on the left side of armrest pad, he clears his throat and signals the struggling fleet.  
  
"This is Captain Mike Daniels...to all ships of the Earth Coalition, you must combine all your weapons on that ship and stop it by any means necessary. Do you read me? Do not let that Cyberman vessel open fire!"  
  
Without responding back, all the ships still able to move about begin to focus their firepower on to the alien vessel threatening Earth. The Cyberman ship shakes and rattles as the humans pound on it, the effort is still not enough as they slowly see the massive cannons under it powering up. Captain Daniels is watching in frustration as the ships aren't even slowing it down, but as he watches them battle the one ship, he notices the other Cyberman ship near by also opening it's lower weapon ports and taking aim at Earth.  
  
"My god! This is it...this is the end of us all. How do we stop something like this? We haven't got the ships to stop them!!"  
  
Suddenly his ship is struck from behind, the last Cyberman ship that had been following them arrived to aid in the final assault on Earth. Inside the attacking vessel, the Cyberman leader views Daniel's ship on a holographic imager and points to all the areas on it where they should strike.  
  
"We must destroy this human and his crew. We must not let them combine forces and attack those ships. Target all weapons on these parts, they seem to have the most damage and could possibly put it out of commission."  
  
The metal man standing behind the leader bows and walks down to his gunnery station.  
  
"Targeting ship now leader. Targets located and locked."  
  
The Cyberman leader raises his head in triumph and clutches his fist firmly as he give the command.  
  
"FIRE!"  
  
The Doctor struggles on the table trying to free his arms, the bindings don't seem to be loosening at all as he continually attempts it. But as he stops and gasps from the strain of using every muscle in his body to break free, the Master walks back into the room with Andrea in tow. The Doctor's eyes light up as he sees her and cheerfully says her name.  
  
"ANDREA!"  
  
"DOCTOR!" She responds back with just the same enthusiasm  
  
The Master snickers at the two.  
  
"Such a warm reunion. Touching isn't it? Now then Doctor...since this foolish woman is of no use to me, I thought you'd at least enjoy some company as you finally die."  
  
Still bitterly angry with the Master, the Doctor scowls at him and forces his words out at him.  
  
"How typical of you Master, to mock your victims in such a cruel and evil manner! Same boring routine each and every time...it's no wonder why you don't respect life, because your just a small minded tedious man that is utterly boring!"  
  
The Master begins to crush Andrea's wrist with his cybernetic strength and smiles at the rival Timelord as he watches for his reaction. Andrea screams in pain as she can hear her bones on the verge of breaking. The Doctor is helpless to help her and cries out for mercy.  
  
"Stop! Stop it I say! You want me to admit defeat? Alright...alright damn you. You win."  
  
Letting the woman out of his grip and placing his finger behind his ear, he looks at the Doctor again.  
  
"I beg your pardon? I didn't quite hear that...say it louder...loud enough to fill this entire room!"  
  
The Doctor shouts out to please the grinning devil.  
  
"YOU WIN!! I, the Doctor admit that you have outwit the likes of me!"  
  
The dark Timelord laughs out loud in sheer joy.  
  
"Nothing can stop me now! NOTHING!!!"  
  
Suddenly the whole room shakes and sends all of them flinging about. A large explosion strikes the Cyberman ship that nearly sends it out of control. The Master rises from his spot, looking concerned and frightened at the same time.  
  
"Wha...What was that?"  
  
The Doctor who now lies on the floor, the table having now broken and his arms now free. Tries to get up and respond to the Master. He's got a few deep scrapes on his head and blood on his arm from being cut by flying debris.  
  
"I...I suspect that is the one thing that can stop you now."  
  
The dark suited Timelord stands up and looks at his blooded rival.  
  
"What? What do you mean?!"  
  
The Doctor still finding it hard to stand up rolls his eyes at the Master and snickers.  
  
"You of all people should know. I've always said...humans...humans are nothing but resourceful. I suspect that they've lured the Cybermen into their well planned trap."  
  
The Master eyes widen, as he thinks with his state of the art cybernetic brain, it becomes all too clear to him that the Doctor is right. A calculation he over looked and an insight he missed entirely.  
  
"No...NO!"  
  
Outside in space, a fleet of ten remaining ships rushes in from behind the moon and swiftly strikes at the Cybermen vessels. The Cybermen quickly retract the weapons and concentrate all their power on the surprise attackers. The battle now becomes a laser filled haze as the ships try to destroy one another. The human vessels now converge on to one of the Cybermen ships and blast away on it as Captain Daniel had instructed. The alien vessel buckles from the barrage and begins to have internal explosions that soon rip out the sides of it in flames. The human ships continue to fire away at it as they see it finally begin to drift. With one last shot to the underside of the vessel, the ship explodes and debris flies everywhere. Some Earth ships were too close and are destroyed from the impact of it, while the rest now move to target the next cornered vessel.  
  
Back on the Cyberman ship carrying the Doctor and the Master, Cybermen troops enter the lab where the Doctor is being held and see the evil Timelord standing there with his hands on his face.  
  
"You promised us victory! Our leader demands you help us right now!"  
  
The Master lowers his black-gloved hands; a smile now replaces the shocked look on his face as he realizes he still has a few tricks left.  
  
"Indeed I shall. Those shuttles that you've created for me over the years...are they on board?"  
  
The Cybermen all stop and scan their memory files as he asks, now that they've been opened from his encrypted code, they have full awareness of what they've been doing subliminally for thousands of years.  
  
"Yes." The lead Cyberman soldier says. "Both ships are fully ready and waiting."  
  
The Master chuckles as he pats the tin man on the head.  
  
"Good...very good. Such useful tools aren't they Doctor..."  
  
The Doctor holds himself up against the back wall as he aches in pain.  
  
"Tools for your evil...will you never learn Master. In the end, they'll figure it out and come looking for you. Just like the Daleks..."  
  
The Master fixes his messed hair and slicks it back to where it was before.  
  
"Ah, but just like the Daleks...they'll have a hard time trying to catch me. Once I'm done with them...well...all races must end sometime. Just like the Timelords will."  
  
The Doctor shakes his head and giggles and the Master's evil thought.  
  
"You're such a bastard. Is there nothing in your life but hate and death? I pity you Master. For a long time I thought you were just a spiteful man...but now I see you're just a child looking for validation from your elders. You want to have the Timelords acknowledge you...give you praise and treat you like their brightest star. And you'll never get it...not in any form or destructive means you'll use to make them look at you. And for that...I pity you."  
  
The Master's face contorts into a rage; his eyes almost flame at the Doctor's words.  
  
"Do not pity me! I spit on your pity you foolish hypocrite! If there is anyone that deserves pity...it will be these humans you care for so much. Once the Cybermen use their ships...it will be the end for them, you and all the Timelords. The universe will burn in flames and I..I alone will sit as the new Master of time and space! "  
  
The Doctor still shakes his head in pity at him. Lowering himself down, he finds Andrea face down on the floor unconscious and touches her back.  
  
The Master turns to the Cybermen and points at the Doctor in a rage filled voice.  
  
"Kill him! Kill them both!"  
  
He runs out of the room with the remaining metal men, and only two stay behind to do as he commanded. Both raise their small hand held weapons and target both beings. The Timelord searches his pockets in vain and after not finding anything in them he finally drops his hands to his sides.  
  
"Damn...I think I dropped my jellybabys somewhere. I would have at least liked to had one last taste of them."  
  
As the Cybermen shoot their weapons, all that can be seen is the Doctor's eyes opening wide and his eyebrows rising in shock. 


	4. Doctor Who: The Cybermen Apocalypse Part...

Part Four –  
  
The Master having taken over the Cybermen, now prepares to give them the special shuttles that have the TARDIS technology with in them. Andrea is shocked to learn that the one she was trapped in was The Master's TARDIS. Having told her of how he managed to stay inside the Doctor's brain, he roughly drags her back to where the quriky Timelord is being held and demands the Doctor to admit that he is inferior to him. But as he enjoys that luxury, the Earth fleet manages a surprise attack on the Cybermen vessels that the Master did not predict. Angered by the human's attack, the Master gives his two Cybermen soldiers, standing next to him, to shoot both the Doctor and his unconscious companion, Andrea.  
  
The Master turns to the Cybermen and points at the Doctor in a rage filled voice.  
  
"Kill him! Kill them both!"  
  
He runs out of the room with the remaining metal men, and only two stay behind to do as he commanded. Both raise their small hand held weapons and target both beings. The Timelord searches his pockets in vain and after not finding anything in them he finally drops his hands to his sides.  
  
"Damn...I think I dropped my jellybabys somewhere. I would have at least liked to had one last taste of them."  
  
As the Cybermen shoot their weapons, another blast hits the ship and causes the Cybermen to lose their footing. The quake caused them to lose their aim as well and shot well beyond the Doctor. The Doctor was tossed to the back wall, which was not too far behind him, and as the Cybermen prepared themselves to attempt another shot, another massive blast sent them hurling on to their backs. The Doctor looked physically exhausted and tried to hang on to the wall as the ship was being bombarded. The Cybermen rose yet again and looked for their weapons that got flung out of their hands. As the one found his, the other looked ahead and faintly saw someone standing in front of him. It was Andrea, and she had the weapon in her hands.  
  
"Yeah that's right buddy...it sucks to be you." She said in a vengeful tone.  
  
It was the last thing the tin man saw as she blasted the robot in the head with the weapon. The shot took off his head like ripe melon and the rest of his body dropped to the ground twitching and sparking. She quickly pointed the gun at the other Cyberman who was caught off guard by her standing there, another blast from her weapon hit the cybernetic being in the chest and killed him instantly as it sheered a hole right through him. After looking at the results of the two kills she made, Andrea rushed over to the Doctor who still gripped the wall in a very exhausted manner.  
  
"Doctor? Are you okay?"  
  
He looks over at her with his weary eyes and giggles softly.  
  
"I thought...I thought that was going to be my line to you."  
  
"Did you get hit or something? You look like you can't even stand up." She says to him with concern.  
  
"Tut, tut my dear...I'm as right as rain."  
  
The Doctor tries to stand up, but suddenly grasps the wall for dear life. Breathing heavily, he jerks his head as if he's trying to stay awake.  
  
"Blast! I don't know why I feel so weak all of a sudden...."  
  
Andrea takes the weapon and places it under her arms; with her two free hands she grabs the Timelord and lifts him up by putting herself under his left arm. The two slowly begin to walk together as they make their way out of the room. She quivers a bit from trying to keep all of his weight on her, but the Doctor tries desperately to compensate for that by standing up every now and then. The ship is rattling and shaking violently as the Earth ships outside attack the vessel with everything they have. As Andrea and the Doctor begin to walk through the long narrow white corridors of the Cybermen vessel, various debris and flames nearly block their way as they try to look for a way out.  
  
"How the hell are we going to get off this ship?" She screams at him as the noise all around increases.  
  
"No...no we...we must stop the Master. We...we have to find the other shuttle he gave them." The Doctor struggles to shout back at her.  
  
"What other shuttle? For god's sake Doctor we don't have time to look...we need to get off this thing before it's destroyed!"  
  
The tired Timelord just points down the corridor and looks at her.  
  
"Just keep heading that way...the Shuttle bay is where we need to go to do both."  
  
She lifts him up again to get a better hold and they continue to press on through the narrow halls as they head for the shuttle bay.  
  
Out in space, the Cybermen vessel battles with all of its weapons at the human crafts trying to stop it from attacking Earth. With the damage getting worst on its hull, the ship still manages to do some quick maneuvers as it out flanks the Earth ships. The ten that had sprung out to attack it have now become a fleet of five, and with more shots coming from the Cybermen ship, the number soon dwindles yet again. On his ship, Captain Daniels sits in his chair as flames and sparks fly all around him. Having joined the battle, the ship was severely damaged and was having a hard time trying to keep up with the other Earth fleet. All around the bridge lay most of the crew, some had been killed instantly with metal parts sticking out of their heads, chest or even backs. The black female pilot was lying across her control center struggling to breath as the blood poured from her damaged head. Megan, looking very distraught and soiled, was doing her best to keep her alive. As the only Medical doctor on board, she found it overwhelming and was at a loss on who to treat first anymore.  
  
"M...Me...Megan." The pilot woman gasped.  
  
"Shh...don't talk. I've got to heal this quick or else..."  
  
Rolling her eyes up at Megan's face she stared right at her and gave out her last breath.  
  
"Tell my...tell my dad I love him."  
  
Megan stood there in horror as she watched the woman die right in front of her. The tears rolled down the medical woman's face as she held up her hand and forced the black woman's eyes shut that were still gazed at her. The Captain looked badly beaten in his command chair, eyes open wide like a wild man and burnt on one side of his face. The blood soaked right shoulder was a sign that he too was in need of medical attention. But rather then tend to his wounds; he still barked orders at the only young pilot sitting at the controls.  
  
"Give me everything you've got kid...bring us back in there!"  
  
The young boy still helming the ship is nearly at his wits end and nervously trying to obey his commander's orders.  
  
"Y-y-yes Sir! Engines are at 40 percent...that's...that's all I have Captain."  
  
Daniels rises out of his chair flinching in pain, but keeps his eyes focused on the fluttering, broken forward monitor. With a devilish grin on his face and the look of insanity in his eyes, he shakes his fist at the view of the Cybermen vessel still struggling to take on the fleet.  
  
"It's enough. That's right...that's right you assholes!! We've got your number! Bring us to full power...onward my boy! To hell or ruin!"  
  
Megan stares at the man and realizes he's become mad. Before she can even challenge his authority, the ship thrusts with whatever power it has and speeds into the war once again.  
  
â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢  
  
The Master standing in the Cybermen Shuttle bay hands the two waiting Cybermen leaders in front of him two small crystal-like rods. Giving one to each, the renegade Timelord smiles at them and gives them one last instruction.  
  
"These are to activate your new ships. Place them into the console of the inner TARDIS and punch up the command sequences I gave you. That should bring the ships online and ready for your conquest of Earth in the past."  
  
The two Cybernetic leaders bowed to him and turned to face the very shuttles sitting in the hangar. Both looked exactly like the one Andrea and the Doctor saw in 1947 Roswell (-The Infection) and both had the Cybermen cryo-chambers inside full of their invasion force. As they slowly walked inside, as most Cybermen tend to move in a very robotic fashion, they closed the doors behind them and walked down past the chambers and into the inner TARDIS that lay at the heart of the ship. In both ships, they walked to the console and placed the cyrstal rod in, as it dropped down into the computer, they began punching in the activation codes as they were told to do.  
  
The Doctor and Andrea rush into the shuttle bay and see the Master standing there with his back to them.  
  
"STOP!" The Doctor manages to scream out at him.  
  
Turning around, the Master gives a look of shock, but then quickly smiles as he starts to laugh at the Doctor's timing.  
  
"Too late Doctor! You're too late! The great and final apocalypse has begun!"  
  
Andera now shouts at the man in anger as well.  
  
"You can't let them do this! You can't let such evil creatures take over!"  
  
"Evil knows evil my dear." The Master snickers at her. "I'd rather live in a universe full of it then have to deal with anymore petty annoyances like your troublesome species."  
  
The Doctor lets go of Andrea and tries to keep himself standing under his own strength.  
  
"Petty! If any damn creature is petty it's you! You punish others because it's all you have left in your life...end this Master! Chaos will not bring you an empire to rule...but rather a never-ending hell with no one left in the universe!"  
  
"Wrong Doctor! Wrong as usual." The man snaps back at him. "I've come to realize that the universe is powered by that chaos, worlds are born and destroyed, suns go nova and create black holes, time and space collide causing temporal rifts...no my dear Doctor...the universe thrives on chaos! When all the weak species are destroyed, when human existence is taken out of the cosmos and all life ceases to be...then a new and perfect race will rise and worship me! For I shall be their GOD!!"  
  
The Doctor looks at him with concern. With the ship still quaking and being shot at, the echoing of the Master's final words hang in the large bay as the evil man holds up his arms in praise.  
  
"You're no god." The Doctor now calmly states. "Your insane."  
  
The Master lowers his arms and stops smiling with pride.  
  
"Insane am I? Just as insane as you are Doctor. I've seen your mind...you're not one to be telling me I'm not right in the head either. Your future is bleak my friend...for you forget I too have seen the very thing you dread. Deep within you is a darkness that pales in comparison to mine."  
  
"I beg your pardon?" The tired looking Timelord says with disgust.  
  
The Master giggles at him as he continues.  
  
"The big twelve is coming fast on you Doctor. Just as I became renegade...so will you. I was there at your trial remember? I was the one who had to point out your evil regeneration in court, to show everyone that the man trying to destroy you was...well...you. Insanity will be there for you as well...and I look forward to seeing your last self then. Perhaps together Doctor...we will be able to be the good friends we were always destined to become."  
  
The Doctor shook in anger, his fist clenched and eyes peering in an uncontrollable hate.  
  
"NEVER!"  
  
Andrea took out her gun and pointed at the Master's head from where she was, the man turned to look at her and simply smiled.  
  
"Ah, sweet, innocent Andrea. How does it feel to know you are going to be witness to the end of humanity? A lowly policewoman who couldn't stand being in a small town and never being anything more then what you were..."  
  
"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT YOUR HOLE!!" She screamed at him as he taunted her. "Doctor? Doctor don't listen to him! He's only trying to make you waste your time and stop you from getting the ships!"  
  
The Timelord snapped out of his anger and looked at her in agreement.  
  
"Your right Andrea. You're absolutely, positively right!"  
  
He looks at the evil Timelord and scowls at him.  
  
"I'm through doing this Master, cleaning up your stupid messes and having to listen to the meaningless doubletalk you do."  
  
The Doctor runs over to Andrea and takes the gun out of her hand. He now points it at the man wearing nothing but black clothes and stares right through him.  
  
"Your time is up!"  
  
The Doctor shoots the weapon and strikes the man in the chest. Surprised by the Doctor's attack, the Master screams in pain as he is flung back by the blast. The man lies there twitching and smoldering on the ground, his cybernetic body sparks and shows various wires sticking out of his wound. Andrea and the Doctor run over to see him, the man is now motionless and continues to spark up now and then. Andrea looks up at the Doctor as he still clutches the gun tightly.  
  
"I can't believe it. You...you shot him. Right on! Whooo! Good going Doc!" She said joyfully.  
  
The Doctor's eyes soon showed the realization of what he had done, dropping the gun to the ground, the Timelord knelt down and put his hands over his mouth in disbelief.  
  
"No...please no. What have I become?"  
  
As they stood there, an alarm began to sound off and the large shuttle door began to open up. They had forgotten about the Cybermen ships and looked over to see them rise up and retract their landing gears. The door continued to rise and soon the special shielding that kept the vacuum of space out was turned off. Now space began to suck everything out into it, even the limited air both Andrea and the Doctor needed. Andrea shrieked at the feeling of being pulled towards the emptiness of space and held on to the Doctor as he desperately tired to hang on to the floor. The floor had a few gaps in-between and with that the only thing to hang on to, his grip began to slip as the pressure of being pulled out was becoming too great for him to handle.  
  
"Hang on Andrea! Hang...hang...on!"  
  
The Master's body instantly sucked out into space and flew past the two Cybermen vessels as they headed out of the ship's bay.  
  
To be concluded... 


	5. Doctor Who: The Cybermen Apocalypse Part...

Part Five -

"I can't believe it. You...you shot him. Right on! Whooo! Good going Doc!" She said joyfully.

The Doctor's eyes soon showed the realization of what he had done, dropping the gun to the ground, the Timelord knelt down and put his hands over his mouth in disbelief.

"No...please no. What have I become?"

As they stood there, an alarm began to sound off and the large shuttle door began to open up. They had forgotten about the Cybermen ships and looked over to see them rise up and retract their landing gears. The door continued to rise and soon the special shielding that kept the vacuum of space out was turned off. Now space began to suck everything out into it, even the limited air both Andrea and the Doctor needed. Andrea shrieked at the feeling of being pulled towards the emptiness of space and held on to the Doctor as he desperately tired to hang on to the floor. The floor had a few gaps in-between and with that the only thing to hang on to, his grip began to slip as the pressure of being pulled out was becoming too great for him to handle.

"Hang on Andrea! Hang...hang...on!"

The Master's body instantly sucked out into space and flew past the two Cybermen vessels as they headed out of the ship's bay.

Grabbing onto the grooves of the shuttle bay's metal floor, the Doctor struggled to pull along the floor, as the air became thinner and thinner, the vacuum of space now beginning to feel intense on their bodies as he climbs with all his might. Helping Andrea guide her hands as well, the two try desperately to hold their breath and keep their eyes closed as the pressure mounts. The Doctor soon manages to find the wall with control pad and pushes the flashing red button that will seal the bay from the deadly airlessness of space. The last Cyberman shuttle clears the bay just as it is activated and the Doctor helplessly watches them leave the ship. Still low on air, the gasping Timelord picks up his lovely travel companion and opens the doors to return into the ship's corridor. Once the door closes behind him, the whooshing sound of the door re-pressurizing the room gives him time to fall to the ground and gasp the little stale air the Cybermen ship has inside.

Looking down at Andrea, he notices she is still having a hard time breathing and in desperate need of a stronger air source. He frantically searches his pockets and pulls out a round red ball that looks like jaw breaker candy. He puts it into her mouth and helps to guide her mouth to chew it.

"Eat this...quickly child." He speaks out of breath to her.

As she begins to chew on her own, she quickly begins coughing and seems to be breathing better.

"What...what was that you gave me?" She gasped.

"It an oxygenated lung enhancer...I always carry a few with me just incase I'm ever caught in a very low breathable environment. It's from a place called Vindamir Seti...the people there breath only once per month and don't have an oxygen rich atmosphere. So you can well imagine...they're not much for conversation."

The Doctor's joke makes Andrea smile for a second and soon realizes the doom they are all in.

"But what about the Cybermen Doctor? We can't just sit here...Earth is on the brink of destruction!"

"Yes...yes this is a rather a tight bind isn't it?" The Timelord mutters to himself. "Desperate times call for desperate measures my dear..."

The Doctor stands up and closes his eyes. Andrea rises up, continuing to chew the flavorless gum ball and gives him a curious look.

"What are you doing?"

"Shhh." The oddly dressed man utters. "What I'm about to do isn't done in the Timelord circle...this is very tricky my dear...even for the likes of me."

As he concentrates, the image of the TARDIS forms in his mind, as if on command, the Timelord's vessel materializes right in front of them as if it had been steered there.

"Holy crap Doc! Tell me you didn't do that!" Andrea says with her eyes and mouth wide open.

"Quickly, no time to explain!" The man barks at her.

The two of them run to the TARDIS and enter through the door. As the perforated walls open up, Andrea and the Doctor rush in only to find themselves standing on the opposite side of the TARDIS's controls. Both Andreas look at one another in amazement and turn to their Doctor counterparts for answers.

"What's happening?" They both shouted in unison.

The Doctor standing at the controls shouts at his dual self and points to the other side of the control center.

"Quickly man! Remove the device, it will deactivate if you pull the damn thing off right now!"

The Doctor rushes under and pulls of the black object the Master had planted on his TARDIS and returns to where he was standing before. The other Doctor nods in thanks to him and waves as both he and the other Andrea vanish into thin air.

"Thanks ol' chap...good to see me!"

Once they were gone, the Doctor laughs casually and walks around to the controls where his previous self was standing. Andrea walks around and looks at him.

"I'd don't understand..." She says with a confused gaze.

"In a moment my dear...hang on..." The man replies.

Fiddling with the controls in front of him, he looks up and sees yet another version of him and Andrea come rushing in. Just as she had shouted before to the Timelord, it seemed like the few last minutes of their lives were being played out again.

"What's happening?" The women shouted again.

"Quickly man! Remove the device, it will deactivate if you pull the damn thing off right now!" The Doctor shouts at this new double.

Doing exactly what he had done before, the double pulls off the device and looks at the Doctor and Andrea. This time the two that had entered slowly disappear as the Doctor waves at them and utters the same phase as before.

"Thanks ol' chap...good to see me!"

Once they vanished, the TARDIS doors closed and the center column moves as the Timelord vessel takes off. Giving a sigh of relief, the Doctor rubs the back of his neck and winks at the very confused face of Andrea.

"That was a close shave my dear."

"Please explain to me what happened! I can't fathom what just took place..."  
  
The Doctor nods at her and give her a serious look as he explains the events.

"Basically I just broke the rule of all Time and Space...never is a Timelord to meet any of his regenerative selves or even revisit his current self...which is a rarity believe me my girl. If I hadn't left within the next few seconds all time and space would have collided in on itself...and thus...no more universe."

Andrea still stood there with a blank look on her face as she tried to get it straight in her head.

"So...you told yourself to set the controls, for that point at time in space, we met ourselves and nearly ended up wiping all of it from existence?"

The Doctor smiled at her and patted her on the shoulder. "Very good Andrea...you know I think you're getting the hang of all this after all."

"Wait...that doesn't make any sense Doc! How could you have set the controls when you weren't in the TARDIS to set the controls to bring the TARDIS here?"

"Ah..." The Timelord states as he swaggers his finger. "Well, while we entered the TARDIS, my future self was preprogramming the controls to bring us back to that point in time, and then re-set the controls to move ahead into the future. So when they disappeared into the present where we are in now...I took his place and did the exact same thing. You see?"

She shook her head in a slow agreement, but quickly paused and then shook in the negative manner. The Doctor sighed and held the bridge of his nose.

"Never mind my dear...it's far too complex to explain. Let's just say...we're heading back to the Earth ship to lend them a hand, hm?"

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As the Master's body floats in space, the small, slender Cybermen shuttle hits him as they venture out as if they didn't even see him floating there. The Master's eyes suddenly open and his hand reaches out at the hull as he scrapes along. Grabbing onto one of the airlock handles that seemingly seems convenient for him to be near, he opens it up and pulls himself inside the lumbering ship.

The War continues to heat up as the Earth vessels start to focus all their weapons on the last Cybermen mother ship and explode the massive vessel into a dust. With all the Cybermen warships gone, all that is left are two small shuttles that continue to head towards Earth. Inside the first shuttle on the far side of the planet, the Cyberman leader clutches his fist and looks at the planet with an almost human-like hatred.

"They will not live to see the dawn of their kind! Prepare the ship for Time warp and let us finally rid ourselves of these flesh creatures forever!"

Crawling along the floor inside the shuttle, The Master's open gut wound of wire and leaking fluids smear along the metal ground as he slithers. He finally reaches the room where his small cabinet TARDIS awaits him and gives a slow giggle that soon turns into a foul evil laughter.

â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢

The blue police box materializes onto the heavily damaged bridge of the Earth vessel that Captain Daniels commands. As both Andrea and the Doctor step out, they discover the extent of the damage to which the ship was in. The entire room was in flames, the controls where smashed, the view screen was barely functioning and the only two people that were still alive was Daniels and Megan. Megan was trying to steer the ship herself as the captain continued to bark orders at her.

"Bring us about five-two-seven mark eight! Let's get those bastards!"

"Captain, we don't have any weapons...the ship is nearly breaking apart and the crew is all dead. Sir we can't survive another assault!" She shouted back to the gruff man.

"To hell with weapons...I'll use this damn ship if I have too! Give me ramming speed!"

The Doctor looks at the monitor and notices the two Cybermen shuttles poised at either side of the blue planet, he quickly rushes over to Megan at the controls and assists her in steering the craft.

"If you re-route from life-support and take the antigravity generators offline on all decks...you'll have enough power to push through."

Megan quickly glances over at the Timelord. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought you betrayed us to the Cybermen?! How did you get back on board?"

"No time to argue..." The Doctor shouts. "It's now or never to end the Cybermen from invading your world. Those two ships are about to launch into a time stream and invade your planet in the past!"

"What? That's impossible!" Megan harps back at him.

"You have to believe him Megan...he's telling the truth!" Andrea shouts from behind.

The captain was straining to hear the entire conversation and switched the controls over to his chair arm pad. Megan looked on her display in front of her and looked behind at the aged commander.

"What the hell are you doing now?"

"I'm going to steer the ship and make sure that time jump never happens...Doctor...take Megan and abandon ship!" The man screams as he enters in the coordinates on his arm pad.

The woman soldier stands to her feet and defiantly shouts at her captain.

"Never! I'll not leave you here to die sir! I'm with you till the end."

"Blast you woman!" The man frantically screams back. "Get off this ship! This is my vessel, I'm the captain...I give the orders and I say who lives and who dies!"

The Doctor gabs hold of Megan's arm and looks at her.

"He's right my dear...this is the only way. While I too find it to be most foolish display of courage...the computers are down and the only way to keep this ship on a locked course is manual control. The captain is the only one who can stay to navigate the ship..."

Looking at the man and giving a small salute, the Doctor gives him a reassuring smile and nods.

"Good luck captain...I hope you're plan succeeds."

Daniels nods back at him and smirks. "If it doesn't...I want the fleet to ready to give it another try in my absence. Thank you Doctor...I wish I had time to hear what happened to you a while back...but this is not the time...nor the life in which to ask questions."

Both the Doctor and Andrea forcefully pull Megan away as they bring her over to the TARDIS. She screams away at the captain to join her and not die this way. But as soon as they enter into the blue police box, the door shuts and the Timelord vessel de-materializes. The captain giggles at the sight of the craft disappearing and shakes his head in disbelief.

"So that's how he got here...well...I won't let those Cybermen get the chance to disappear like that. Full power!"

Tapping on his armrest console, the ship suddenly jumps into high speed and heads straight for the far second Cybermen shuttle. Inside the craft, the three metallic warriors see the ship approaching and turn to one another.

"We have been discovered Leader!" The first one shouts.

"It is heading straight for us on a collision course!" The second one announces.

The lead Cyberman sits there with his face gazing at the ship quickly approaching and shouts at his officers.

"Quickly! Activate the Time..."

The two ships collide and shatter into one another on impact. The explosion is doubled in size because of the shuttle's massive power core, it sends out shockwaves from its detonation and cripples the entire remaining Earth fleet. The other Cybermen shuttle spins out of control from the wake of the blast and spirals down into the Earth's atmosphere.

"Initiate the time jump!" The Cyberman leader commands.

The shuttle begins to distort and soon de-materializes from the fiery entry into Earth, it gives the same whooshing sound as a Timelord vehicle and soon ends up into the vortex of time and space.

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The Doctor runs all around the TARDIS console and manipulates the various controls and switches. He opens the widescreen viewer on the wall opposite to him and sees the Cyberman craft a few miles ahead of him.

"Damn...they're moving too quickly." He says in frustration. "Looks like I'm going to have to make another bold and unwise attempt..."

Andrea looks at him as both she and Megan hold on to the center controls or dear life.

"And that would be?"

The Doctor looks up and pushes one final button. "Collapse the vortex!"

A sudden bright flash from the top of the police box's light causes the entire vortex to become unstable and throws both vehicles out of phase. The TARDIS spins wildly out of control as it pops out into outer space again and continues to get tossed about into the black void. The Cybermen shuttle spins out of time and suddenly crashes down onto some planet's surface as it de-materializes. The blast wave of it's impact can be seen for miles in the darkness, the night sky of the planet quickly lights up and then simmers back into the starry filled blackness of it's night time. Rushing towards the crash site is a bunch of World War II military vehicles that are full of armed troops. Sirens can be heard blaring in the distance and flashes of light streak past a sign that reads:

Roswell, New Mexico U.S. Military Base – No Vehicles permitted past this point.

Deep in space, the TARDIS finally slows down in its wild spin and everyone inside of it manages to get back on their feet again. The Doctor rushes over to the controls and studies the readings from it.

"It worked!" He shouts joyfully. "The vortex was collapsed and the Cybermen are forced out."

Andrea gets up and rubs her sore head from all the tumbling around. "Ow. Hell Doc...next time give us some warning before you do that! Where did they go anyhow?"

"I suspect you and I already know the answer to that one my dear." The Doctor announces cheerfully to her.

"1947!" Andrea screams. "Roswell...damn...talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So we were the ones that brought them there?"

"Yes. It would seem so my dear." The delighted Timelord uttered. "Ah well, at least I knew how to handle it back then. So it's all in the past...time to keep going into the future."

Megan looks at the both of them with a curious look and finally gives a long stare at the inside of the Doctor's TARDIS.

"What is this thing anyway?"

"Ah...Megan." The Doctor says rubbing his hands and walking over to her. "How would you like to come with us and take a bit of a vacation from all this doom and gloom? Or would you prefer I take you back to your proper place and time again?"

"Huh? What do you mean? I don't fully understand you..." She replies back to him in a dazed manner.

Andrea walks over to her and pats her gently on the back. "Don't worry...neither did I at first. I think we should just take her back home Doc...it has been rather stressful enough on her already."

"Wait..." Megan quickly pulls away. "I...I don't think I want to go back. Not right away. I'm so damn tired...so tired...."

The Doctor can see the woman is flustered from the whole thing, her wounds need taking care of and the trauma of witnessing her friends die all around her probably is just catching up to the woman.

"Andrea, take Megan to the medical room and get her looked after. We'll talk about taking her home later."

Andrea nods in agreement and places Megan's arm around her shoulder as she helps her out of the room. Before she leaves, Andrea turns to the Timelord and asks a question.

"What about the Master?"

"I suspect he's gone for good." The Doctor sighs. "But one can never tell with that man."

"For all our sakes...I hope we never see that evil man again." She says in a serious tone.

The Doctor looks back at her and agrees.

"Indeed Andrea...indeed."

The two women leave the room and the Doctor walks over to one of his antique chairs and sits down. The thought of the Master being killed by his hands sends his mind racing with millions of questions. Had he become the evil he so yearned to avoid? Did the Master finally get the better of him? Was this the beginning of the end for himself? As he tried to shake the doubts from his mind, a sudden wave of discomfort grew throughout his body. The pain forced him to stand up and hold his gut as if he was going to vomit.

"What...what's happening to me?"

The Timelord started to get the sharp stabbing pains again and screamed in agony as he twitched from the multiple attacks. He quickly threw himself over to the controls and frantically set the controls on a new course. With one last sharp cry of pain, the Timelord passed out on the floor and lay there motionless. His entire body began fluctuating as if in a mid-regeneration, but it wasn't changing his appearance at all. It continued to twist and contort his appearance; as if his skin was reflecting the space/time vortex the TARDIS would be hovering in. The Doctor lay there on the floor and all that could be heard is the echo of the Master's laughing voice.

END


End file.
